Light In You (Naruto Uzumaki)
by JanaeH-16
Summary: Nia Umino is the girl who's cynical toward men and the world. Naruto Uzumaki is the boy that wants to prove not all men are bad and life can be great. FULL SUMMARY INSIDE! [Dark] [FEATURES SWEET MOMENTS OF POPULAR NARUTO SHIPS] [ALSO ON WATTPAD MARKED COMPLETED WITH 82 CHAPTERS!]
1. Chapter 1

**SUMMARY:**

She's the girl who can't seem to have others keep their eyes off her. Not cause she's attractive, but because she isn't.  
She's the girl that's constantly teased and denied of any meaningful friendships. Not cause no one refuses to speak with her, but because they act fake or she drifts away from them.

The girl who's cynical and insecure yet sensitive to the core.

Nia Umino is the kunoichi whom is a master at taijutsu, a decent genjutsu user, but a complete amateur at ninjutsu. She's a strategist in glasses and is determined to find a certain Toad Sage sannin who'll help her in two different prospects of her life.

He's the boy whose been alone his whole life. Not cause he chose to, but because it was forced upon him.  
He's the boy who was treated like a monster. Not cause of how he looked or act, but because of what's inside him.

The boy who's optimistic and confident yet stubborn to the core.

Naruto Uzumaki is the ninja whom is diligent in whatever he does, empathetic and kind to the unfortunate, but impulsive in battle. He is a knucklehead who never goes back on his word and is fixated on making the ninja world he lives in a better place for everyone.

Both are understanding individuals who wish for complete contentment and peace in their everyday lives. When these two meet, will they connect on a deep level or will one or the other focus on someone whom they can't fully get over?

{CONTAINS POPULAR NARUTO PAIRINGS}

[WARNING: CONTAINS MATURE THEMES AND MILD SWEARING! PG-13+]

******  
I DO NOT OWN NARUTO SHIPPUDEN OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS! I ONLY OWN CHARACTERS WHO NEVER APPEARED IN THE SHOW/MOVIES AND THE PLOT OF THE FANFIC!

Cover By: JanaeH

 **Chapter 1: Nia Umino~ Fan Of Jiraiya**

Exhaustion was the word for it... No, fatigue was more like it; Fatigued by a long journey to the Hidden Stone Village then back to the Hidden Cloud that is. A team of four was now headed to the Raikage's office to report what went down during their mission to send a special message to the Tsuchikage from the Raikage.

It was a message concerning a recent event that had been occurring between the two villages. On the way there, Karui, a kunoichi with red long hair, dark skin, and amber eyes continuously debated with her brother, Omoi, about what they thought the Raikage would give them as a reward for completing the task.

"I'm telling you Karui, it's going to be a rank up to jonin." Omoi said as he sucked on a red sucker in his mouth.

Omoi shared the same skin tone as his sister but his hair and eye color were different. His short somewhat spiky hair was white and his eyes were black. Despite the strange hair color, Omoi remained as a handsome young man.

"Are you really that dense, Omoi?" Karui replied, "We didn't do anything that huge to get jounin level."

As brother and sister bickered, another teammate their age walked quietly behind them with a book in her hands. Her eyes never left the page she was on and yet she was able to walk freely around her surroundings without bumping into a single thing or person.

 ** _Tales Of A Gutsy Ninja_**

That was the name of the book the lady was reading. Karui noticed her teammate reading the book and snatched it from out the girl's hand.

"This again, Nia?" The redhead holdef the book upside down, causing her associate to lose the page she was on.

"Don't do that, give me it back." Nia reached for her book only for Karui to twirl around and avoid Nia's attempt to grab her belonging.

"Karui!"

"What? What's wrong?" Karui snickered, "Can't get your book back from me?"

Nia remained quiet and stopped her actions; She hoped that if she didn't do anything, Karui would just give the book back. However, that plan backfired.

"Not gonna fight for this? Well, I'll just keep this safe with me."

Again, Nia didn't speak; she was frightened to. Karui isn't the type of person that she would want to mess with. Nia has seen the brutality in Karui's personality and didn't want to end up like her one of her other victims.

"Karui, hand the book back!"

Karui and Nia turned to see their sensei, Samoi, sauntering a few feet away. The blonde hair blue-eyed woman had witnessed what went down between her younger teammates. Karui, realizing she was caught doing wrong, rolled her eyes and pushed Nia's book against her comrade's chest.

Nia smiled in relief as her book was once again in her possession.

Seeing that his sensei was lagging behind everyone, Omoi rushed to her side and began messaging her shoulders.

"Omoi, what do you think you're doing?" Samoi stopped.

"I saw that you were quite far from the rest of us. Sensei, these large breasts of yours is beginning to slow you down, Listen, if you need me to message your shoulders at anytime, let me know."

Karui crossed her arms, "Like she would want you to do that for her. Just admit it, you're being a pervert."

"You're just mad because you have no breasts; you're as flat as a wall." Omoi retaliated.

Karui glared at her brother then cracked her knuckles, "WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"You heard me! I said-"

"Quiet!" Samoi hushed, "We're here."

Immediately, Karui and Omoi closed their mouths and prepared to face the village's leader. Nia became slightly nervous as the door opened.

"Ah, there you are, Samoi; How'd the mission go?" A very large built, middle-aged, intimidating man speaks with such high authority.

"Good Sir! My team was successfully able to carry out the message to the Tsuchikage himself." Samoi responded before she handed a scroll to the kage.

The large man unrolled the scroll and read over it.

"Hmm, I see." His eyes shifted right to left a few times before re-rolling the scroll, "So, the Stone won't cooperate with the Cloud..."

"It seems that way." Samoi spoked.

The Raikage slammed his fist down his desk, "ARGH!"

No one moved a muscle.

' _What is it that they want from us if it isn't our weapons_?!' Raikage asked himself silently in his thoughts.

The room stayed silent as the Raikage tried to come up with a solution to the request that the Tsuchikage had sent his fellow kage. About a couple weeks ago, a ninja of the hidden cloud had encountered the Tsuchikage of the Hidden Stone whilst out on a mission. Apparently, the ninja had accidentally crashed into the elderly man and injured his back then left without apologizing. A Stone ninja was then sent to give the message to the Raikage about the incident and ordered the middle-aged man to give an apology to the elderly gentleman for the mess one of his ninjas did. The old man hasn't been up right since then.

With a lump in her throat, Nia nervously said, "Sir, maybe apologizing isn't too bad to do."

"Quiet!" Raikage once again pounded on the desk, "The Tsuchikage's request for me to go down all the way to the Stone just to apologize for something I didn't even do is absurd!"

"Y-Yes! Of course." Nia responded as her body trembled slightly.

With a groan, the Raikage sat back down on his chair, "I guess it can't be helped... Darui!"

A male with white shaggy hair, dark skin, a slightly large nose, and eyes that usually looked bored, stepped next to his superior; He wore the traditional jonin outfit.

"Darui, you are to watch this office while I'm out for a few days; don't let anybody into the village unless it's one of our villagers."

Darui nodded his head, "Yes, understood."

"All right, Team Samoi, you're dismissed. Good job on your mission." Raikage gave us his acknowledgement.

"Thank you, Sir. Have a safe trip." Samoi smiled.

"Hold on."

All four team members stopped their actions.

"Nia, I'm gonna need to talk to you alone." The Raikage pointed his finger at the teen.

Nia nodded and everyone but her, Darui, and the Raikage left the room. The girl stood awkwardly in front of her superiors.

"How's your training been?" Raikage broke the silence.

"Not as good as I hoped." Nia mumbled.

"What do you mean?"

"I just... lack motivation..."

"Training to strengthen your ninjutsu and become a chuunin should be your motivation!"

"Y-Yes." Nia nodded shamefully.

The older man sighed and leaned back on his chair.

 _How on earth can this girl get to improving her ninjutsu? She has hardly no motivation and even Samoi can't seem to get this girl on her feet nor the classes she took at Kumogakure High School._

The Raikage recognized the book in Nia's hands, "That's one of Jiraya's books, isn't it?"

"Yeah; Do you know him or something?"

"That doesn't matter... Just hand that over to me."

Hesitant, but not wanting to anger her superior, Nia handed over her book.

"I'll have to hold onto this so that you can get the drive to train your hardest; I believe this book is slowing you down for some reason. Nia, you just finished your first year at the high school not too long ago, now is the time to show me what you learned in all the missions that is to come."

Nia had no response.

"This book will be returned to you once I see progress with your training. If it does not improve even slightly, I will be forced to send you back to the academy; Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes." Nia mumbled.

"I can't hear you!" Raikage yelled.

"YES!" Nia shouted.

"Good. You're dismissed."

Moonlight entered through the blinds of Nia's room; She shared the room with her younger sister, Misumi, who's about a year and a half younger than her, having just turned fifteen in May while Nia was approaching seventeen-years-old in a few months.

"Misumi?" Nia called as she stared up at the ceiling. The light coming through the blinds made a shape on the ceiling similar to that of a crayon.

"What?" Misumi answered before laying herself down on the floor.

The two girls shared a bunk bed in their room since the ages of eight and ten. Recently, Misumi had disliked sleeping on the top bunk and would rather sleep on the floor.

"The Raikage and I had a chat again." Nia talked, "It was about my training with ninjutsu. I told him that I'm lacking motivation to do the work."

"Well, maybe if you weren't so lazy and reading that book all day long, you'd probably get somewhere."

"I'm not lazy and I don't read all day long! I write too!"

"Oookay." Misumi sarcastically muttered.

Nia smiled then flipped on her lamp. The yellow light illuminated the bedroom. Misumi squinted her dark brown eyes and covered her face with her long, straight brown hair. Nia stared at the small scratch on her sister's tan skin; It was on her arm.

 _She must've gotten that while training or being on a mission..._

Nia grabbed a cup filled with water off the night table next to her bed and sat up, staring at her reflection.

Her dark brown eyes was behind large black frames of her glasses. Her dark brown hair was put into a messy bun with bangs hanging off each side of her head, and her brown skin seemed to glisten in the reflection. However, despite these nice features, Nia could only focus on two things: Her smile and left eyebrow.

Her eyebrow wasn't like the norm. At about a center of it, a few hairs had made a slight curl upwards; It had always been that way since the day she was born. Though Nia saw it as something that made her look unique, others had constantly teased her about this feature. Her smile, on the other hand, was something she was insecure about. Nia never smiled with her teeth showing cause she was embarrassed about the fact that she had a minor open bite that formed after all the years of her having the bad habit of sucking her left index and middle finger as a child.

The reason for this was because of the immense comfort it brought her after a long day of teasing. To her, she compared the habit like how someone enjoyed smoking or drinking cause it "soothed" them. No one knew she had this habit except for her family and of course, herself. Another problem was her eyes; they would always look squinted thanks to her cheekbones pressing up against it tightly while laughing or grinning. However, at least when she were to laugh or smile, others would be able to easily determine if it was a genuine one.

Nia drinked out of the cup; she set it down again and sighed.

"I want my book back."

Misumi brushed her hair out of her face with her fingers, "Why do you care so much about that boring book?"

Her sister grinned, "Cause."

"Cause what?"

Nia thought of the hero in her favorite story. His bravery, kindness, maturity, and desire for peace soothed her soul. She imagined the man to be extremely handsome and tall.

"The plot is awesome..."

Misumi raised an eyebrow, "And..."

Nia looked down at her hands on her lap.

 _She already knows why I love the book so much so why does she always urge me to spill it out?_

"The character." Nia admitted.

Misumi laughed, "Knew it."

"Why did you ask me that if you already know?" The sixteen-year-old smiled as she laid down on her mattress again.

"It's just funny."

"But how? You know what it's like having a crush on... Non-existent people..."

Nia's response didn't stop Misumi from giggling even louder.

The two girls were always close since childhood; As kids they were inseparable and did everything together like best friends would: Tell secrets, play, go to the academy together, etc.

"Your crushes on them are different than mine; With you, you actually fall in love with them while mines remain just as a tiny crush and/or a feeling of adoration." Misumi resumed the conversation.

"I guess." Nia agreed.

 _My crushes have been more intense than her's since childhood... It's actually a little embarrassing sometimes but I can't help it._

"I mean, it's not like I never had a crush on real guys, you know; I've liked plenty."

"Yeah, but it was mostly fictional characters you've crushed on." Misumi sighed, "Well, you did have a huge crush on Peron when you were eleven to twelve and Bejiri at-"

"Don't bring up that name!" Nia became agitated suddenly. Her smile faded immediately.

The long-haired sibling frowned and quietly thought to herself:

 _She's changed ever since that whole Bejiri thing when she was thirteen to fourteen. With Peron, she always wore a smile on her face and talked to him quite a bit to actually like him for the person he was. The two were definitely into one another but slowly they drifted apart because Peron went off to one of the smaller villages._

Misumi clenched her fist and subconsciously formed a annoyed facial expression.

 _Then Bejiri showed up and wooed Nia into liking him. Though the two were too shy to get to know each other, it was still kinda cute how they would glance at one another often and smile._  
 _Anyone who'd payed any attention to those two would see there was a strange yet special between them. But still... what they had going on was strange and not very healthy. Nia got really obsessed over a guy she barely knew and within time of not having the courage to speak to one another, Bejiri eventually got a girlfriend and Nia didn't find out about it until a month or two later; breaking her fragile heart and angering me very much._

Misumi face softened as she watched Nia grab another copy of her favorite book from underneath her bed and opened it to the page she was on.

Even after all the heartache, Nia still remained attached to Bejiri, who was a handsome young man with a slim yet tone body, black hair and eyes, fair skin, and was of average height. For quite some time she felt these unhealthy feelings. No longer did she smile as much as she used to years prior; She just couldn't find a reason to and let her sensitive emotions run over her. Depression, jealousy, and bitterness set in as a result; her world shut down and she avoided anyone who wanted to give her comfort: her family, sensei, and Raikage himself. Killer Bee, knowing and understanding her desire to be accepted and acknowledged by others other than her family, gave her some consoling and at least managed to get the girl to go out on missions again, though her eyes still had a touch of sorrow in them.

It wasn't until she stumbled upon Jiraiya's, _Tales Of A Gutsy Ninja_ , that she began to feel a change of mood. On that day, in late spring, Jiraiya had been carrying a large overflowing luggage of every book he had so far written and was planning to have another book signing in the Hidden Leaf after returning from a long trip of doing "research". On his way there, a few books of his novel fell out of its bag without the old man noticing. Nia, who was on a mission at the time, spotted the books. She mistaken it as one of the enemy's possessions, brought it to her village, and was told it had no importance or connections with the mission and/or enemy. So, being that she enjoys reading, Nia got curious and read the summary then first chapter and instantly became hooked; Never did she leave her home without at least one copy of it with her. The story had touched her heart enough to do so.

"Did Iruka send a letter yet?" Misumi changed the subject.

Nia eyes didn't leave her eyes off the book, "Yeah. Mom and Dad has it. You didn't read it yet?"

"No." Misumi shook her head, "What did it say?"

"Iruka says that he's doing alright at the Hidden Leaf and that another group of his students had made it to genin rank a while ago. Apparently, one of them was the late third hokage's grandson; you know, Konohamaru Sarutobi?"

"Never met the guy."

"Me either. Iruka says he is a huge troublemaker but definitely has potential to be as great as his grandfather one day. I think he's a preteen now."

"What about that jinchuuriki boy that they have in Konoha?" Asked Misumi, "What was his name again?"

Nia tried to remember the name, but nothing ringed a bell, "I don't know. Um, I think that they might still have the host alive there... well... maybe."

"Do you remember what he looked like?"

Again Nia tried to remember. Nothing but one thing came to mind.

"His eyes were a deep blue and were quite large."

"I can't remember anything about that boy's physical appearance hardly. Well, he did have those weird marks on his face. Other than that, I can't remember. I haven't seen him for years after all." Misumi responded.

"Well, it's been years for me also you know."

Misumi looked down.

' _I know it was a long time ago, but I wonder if Nia still remembers...'_ She thought.

Almost as if the two had the same mind, Nia spoked, "We used to play with him sometimes when we were toddlers. Back before we were forced out of the village and came here, remember? In the park..."

Misumi nodded slowly, "He seemed so lonely... I always wondered where his parents were whenever the sun set and everyone else's parents brought their kids home."

"Yeah..." Nia agreed with a sad tone.

Misumi caught this, "You sounded sad there."

"No." Nia denied, "It's just, our parents and older siblings always told us to not be around that kid; Not that they hated him or anything, but because they thought he would kill us. I just think that all the other children's parents told their kids that too."

"Yeah, I remember... Even Iruka was harsh towards that kid a little. You could tell by looking into his eyes."

About a dozen years ago, Nia and her entire family had been residing in the village hidden in the leaves. During the attack of the Nine Tails, Nia had been no older than seventeen days, Her parents and Iruka's had went off to battle the beast. Unfortunately, only Nia's father, Iruka's father's brother, and her mother, made it out alive thanks to the third hokage, who had saved them with reinforcements.

At the memorial, tears were shed, and Nia's parents attempted to comfort Iruka, who felt very alone and depressed because of the lost of his parents. For a while, Iruka lived with his uncle's family. As Nia grew older, she noticed that Iruka would look at a particular child her age and glare coldly at him whenever he happened to be within sight. His eyes wouldn't leave the kid and the mean look in them frightened his three-year-old cousin.

Again and again she was told to never go by the boy. However, in order to get to her home, she needed to walk past the noodle shop he would normally eat in and the apartment building he lived in. Sometimes, the two would stumble upon eachother and glance at one another, but none would say anything. One day, while playing outside, Nia spotted the young boy running away from the adults who were chasing him because of his harmless prank of painting throughout the homes of the village. The kid was covered with different colors of paint on his face, hair, and clothes. Since he wasn't paying attention to where he was going, the child tripped over a rock and spilled paint all over the person in front of him: Nia.

The girl cried after realizing what had happened, and, feeling guilty but not wanting to get caught by the adult ninjas, the boy sprinted to his home that he lived in alone. As always, the older generation made complaints to Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, ordering that he kick the child troublemaker out of the village; The Third would not.

Just the next day, the jinchuuriki spotted tiny Nia at the park with other children and approached her; apologizing for what he had incidentally done to her. When the parents seen that the boy was in the area where their children were, they took their kids by the hand and left immediately before the boy could interact with any of them.

Nia was somewhat still shaken up from the previous morning; her body trembled.

The boy saw this and looked to the ground with hurt feelings.

"Why is everyone so scared of me?" He asked with a shaky voice.

The Umino girl didn't really understand why the boy was acting the way he was and insensitively answered, "My Family says you're scary cause you're going to kill me if I get close to you and I shouldn't ever play with you or be your friend."

Offended by her harsh words, the boy became angry and yelled at her saying that her and her family are stupid and that he was gonna be recognized as someone who would be treated with kindness while tears rolled down his face.

"My Mommy and Daddy mostly said that stuff; I don't think you look scary; You don't have really long nails, sharp teeth, and a lot of tails; I think you look normal and nice." Nia innocently talked, "I only think you're kinda scary because you spilled that Colory stuff on me yesterday; it got me dirty and in trouble."

The boy wasn't exactly sure how to respond. A part of him was mad because Nia said she found him kinda scary, but another part of him was relieved and happy cause she didn't see him as a nuisance that other people saw him as. He had thought that the girl was scared that he would attack her, not because she didn't want him to get paint on her and get her in trouble again. The only thing that confused him was when she was using adjectives that would be used for animals or beasts. The boy didn't understand why she was comparing that to him.

"Nia!"

The two children looked to see who was approaching them. A young boy who looked to be thirteen came into view. His hair was brown and kept in a ponytail, his eyes were dark, skin was a light brown, and had a scar running across the bridge of his nose. This boy's name was Iruka.

"What do you think you're doing all by yourself? I was looking all over for you." The teen says as he picked his cousin up in his arms.

"I wasn't doing anything bad." Nia responds.

"Oh really...?" Iruka then gives a cold look to the three-year-old boy who stood a couple feet away.

 _It's him again... Why doesn't he just stay away from everyone? I don't want him gnawing his claws into Nia's flesh like he did to my parents._

"Let's get going before Uncle and Auntie get mad at me." Iruka begun to walk away from the playground.

"Okay." Nia gave a whiny tone and gazed at the sad toddler who was now alone again.

 _I wanna play with everyone; I don't care if everyone sees that boy as a monster. He looks nothing like the scary clowns or zombies on Halloween._

Nia would always remember the sadness in the boy's big deep sapphire colored eyes as she was carried away.

Whenever she would go to the park with her then two-year-old sister, they would, once in a while, attempt to play with the jinchuuriki boy but would always get caught within a few minutes by the adults and would be sent back to their home. Eventually, their parents got tired of their daughters putting themselves in "danger" and demanded that they be sent to live in another village away from the Nine-Tails. With difficulty and time, Nia's parents succeeded and were sent away from the Land Of Fire and transferred to the Land Of Lightening. There, Nia and her four other siblings, two brothers and two sisters, would be raised there till the current time. The boy that Nia and Misumi had to leave behind, would continue to live his life lonely and friendless until he was put into his very first genin squad. As for Iruka, his dream of being a teacher at the academy someday prevented him from moving away. He stayed alone at Konoha, sending letters to his relatives every now and then for the past years.

The light in Nia's room began flickering on and off. The older adolescent was just getting to a good part in her book when it had happened. Finally, after about half a minute, the light blew out.

Nia groaned; she had no choice but to close her book and go to bed since there was no candles or a lightbulb to replace the burned out one.

Tomorrow she would have no choice but to get up and practice her ninjutsu. Even though she had no motivation, she still wanted her other copy of her favorite book back safe and sound from the Raikage. However, would she be able to improve before the Raikage would return from his trip to the Hidden Stone or will he send her back to Kumogakure Academy? That was all Nia could think about as she tried to get some sleep.

 **A/N- That's a wrap! The conversation between Nia and Misumi felt a little strange for me to write but I like the way it turned out. Hopefully you guys enjoyed the first chapter anyways cause I put a lot of work into this with trying to think of my OC's personality, flaws, and backstory. Please comment what you and think of it and maybe a leave vote also.**  
 **Oh and please let me know if you would prefer to see what the chapter is called when it's posted (ex: Chapter 1: Nia Umino or should it just be like, Chapter 1 with no title thing?) I mean the title will be shown when you click to read the chapter but if you don't it'll just say Chapter 2. Plz let me know. I find it important. Thx for reading btw! Happy New Years :D Can't believe it's already 2016 omg! I'm excited for this year to start going by.**

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Emotionally Drained**

A certain blonde stood near the burial of a passed friend. His tears streamed down his whisker cheeks and hit the flowers on the stone that read his friend's name.

"Sasuke..." The young male clenched his fist that rested by his sides, "I'm sorry... I couldn't... I couldn't save you."

"Naruto." A grown Iruka called out to the sixteen-year-old.

Naruto glanced at his former teacher and master, Jiraiya, who stood by one another. The two adult men saw the redness in their student's eyes and sighed.

"I know this may not be the most comforting words to say to you," The man with long white hair placed a hand on Naruto's left shoulder, "but don't let Sasuke's death be the end of your happiness, Kid."

Naruto squeezed his fists even tighter, "Sasuke was my best friend! He was like a brother to me! He growled, "How can I just get over the fact that he's-"

"Naruto!" A beautiful woman with long blonde hair put into low pigtails and brown eyes, made her way to the three men. She wore pink lipstick, a green haori with kanji symbol for "gamble" on the back of it, a no-sleeve grey blouse with a navy blue obi, grey pants, and black high heel sandals with a red polish on her toe and fingernails.

"Tsunade..." Jiraya was surprised to see his friend out of the Hokage office.

"Lady Tsunade, how is Sakura taking this?" Iruka asked with concern.

"Not well." Tsunade answered, "She still hasn't left her house in six weeks now. She's taking this worse than Naruto is for crying out loud."

"I know she had strong feelings for Sasuke, but... six weeks?!" Iruka placed a hand behind his head.

Naruto's eyes fell, "Sakura loved Sasuke with all her heart... She might stay in her house forever."

The three adults said nothing and didn't move. They stared at Naruto as he battled with his emotions.

Seven weeks ago, while on a mission, Naruto, Sakura, and Sai had heard an explosion near where they were at and with Kakashi and Yamato, went to investigate. A massive blue fire had broke out in an opened field. Its flames burned so hot that it took Yamato hours just to extinguish a section of it. After a few days, the fire was extinguished and there, laying at the edge of a field, was a burned skeleton with clothes on it burned and tattered badly but still distinguishable.

Naruto's and Sakura's faces turned blue when they recognized the familiar clothing the skeleton had worn. Yamato and Sai then saw it next and immediately noticed the similarities between the outfit they saw Sasuke wearing when they had first encountered the Uchiha at Orochimaru's hideout.

Sakura fell to her knees as tears forced itself out of her eyes just as Kakashi went over to the corpse to examine the clothing closer.

Naruto was too shocked to move; he looked paralyzed. His heart crumpled but at the same time, hoped that his eyes were playing tricks on him, "T-That could be anyone's..."

Kakashi spotted a logo on the back of the white shirt. He closed his eyes after recognizing the logo.

"This isn't just anyone's, Naruto. It bears the Uchiha crest on it. I'm sorry." He said.

 _No..._ Naruto said in his thoughts, _Thatcan't-_

His heart broke into pieces. His eyes became extremely dull as the thought of his best friend's death gnawed at him. Sakura was in no better shape. Like Naruto's, her eyes looked soulless; there was no liveliness in them.

Her deep love for Sasuke had caused her to suffer greatly in the end. The young woman was so traumatized, she couldn't even think to herself.

Yamato went to comfort Sakura while Sai went to Naruto's side. Neither really responded to their teammates aid. Kakashi felt a deep sense of hurt inside also. He had lost another comrade and blamed himself for not doing better as Sasuke's sensei.

The beads that were wrapped around his waist had broken apart and scattered across the area. The day had ended in tragedy and loss. However, that was only the beginning.

Tsunade, Iruka, and Jiraiya watched as Naruto sadly walked away from the graveyard. The blonde ended up back at his place and sighed at the filth in it. Ramen cups, wrappers, soda cans, and other items decorated the wooden floor. His bed was unmade and the blanket was to the side of it, practically touching the floor.

 _It's the same as always in here..._

Naruto got out a pot and poured hot water into it. He then set it on the burner and turned it on. Once the water boiled, Naruto took out a cup of ramen and opened it up.

 _Maybe eating some ramen will get my mind off of him for a little bit..._

The blonde grabbed the pot off the burner then switched it off. As he made his way to pour the water in the ramen, Naruto's mind filled up with inescapable memories of Sasuke and because of it, his hand slipped and the pot fell to the floor and cracked.

Water poured out but Naruto did nothing. His chest tightened and his throat grew a lump. His mind was so focused on the death of his best friend so much, he grew a migraine.

"S-Sasuke..." Tears once more well up in his eyes. It quickly slid down his face and splattered once touching the floor. "You just can't be gone... It's not real. W-Who's str-strong enough to take you down?"

Sakura repetitively switched positions on her bed. Her restless mind wouldn't quit replaying memories that she believed her and Sasuke shared. The times that he protected her while they were genin and still on team seven, the time he seemed concerned for her well being, the time she confessed her feelings. These were all being reflected by the girl.

As much as she didn't wanna believe it, her dear Sasuke had passed on. Nothing was going to bring him back. Not her love for him, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, or just anything. He was gone...

The kunoichi buried her face into her pillow.

"Sasuke!" She sobbed into it, "I can't believe you're gone!"

 **A/N: Hey guys! Short and depressing chapter I know but I hope I didn't make it too heart-breaking... Chapter was actually pretty hard for me to write without feeling some type of way. Stay with me tho, this story has only just begun hehe. Plz let me know if you guys enjoyed this (or not) chapter 3 will be out either today or tomorrow.**


	3. Chapter 3

**THANKS 4FOLLOWING/FAVORITING**  
Arianna Le Fay

 **THANKS 4 FOLLOWING:**

as244521

golden-priestess

jimmemays

A/N- whenever I get a new person follows, favorites, or review this story, I will display their name on the next update. Thanks to the four users who did at least one of these things. I appreciate it!

Now to the story...

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Dear Diary**

Because of the order she was given and not wanting to go back to the academy with all the young children, Nia trained throughout her entire morning. Not much progress was entirely made though cause of her lack of drive and determination. She almost felt as if she had no reason. Her village wasn't anything meaningful to her, the people in it certainly weren't except for a small few, and Nia wasn't too fond of her teammates either.

She found them to be bossy, rude, and overall, insensitive. Samoi was fine, Omoi was alright but never would stop overly worrying about little things and wouldn't stop his sister from picking and getting into it with Nia, and Karui was plain out mean and a bully. Heck! The woman threatened to beat Nia up if she was to screw up badly on a mission.

Nia sighed as she began her way into the village town. She wasn't wearing her mission gear like everyone else did. They wore their gear even if they had a break out of their duties. It was a very strict rule in the Hidden Cloud to wear nothing else but your attire if you're a ninja. For the young ones, it was a rule to wear a specific uniform when attending the academy and/or high school. Nia rebelled against the adults in charge and ditched the uniform upon nearing the age of ten. Multiple times the older generation would scold her for not doing what they wanted her to do but all Nia did was ignore them and kept wearing what she wanted.

Speaking of school, Nia was neither the brightest nor the dumbest. She was an average student who excelled in English and biology, but would do terrible in geometry and history. Though she payed attention in her worst subjects, she never really bothered to do her homework or study for her tests. As a result, she failed geometry and barely passed history.

Nia constantly heard the snickering of others as they made fun of her outward appearance while she meander throughout the village.

"Why doesn't she just put on her mission gear? The clothes she's wearing looks like her grandma knitted that for her." A kunoichi around Nia's age tells a young male next to her.

"Who cares? It doesn't matter what she wears, she'll always look hideous." The guy replies with no shame.

The girl giggled.

Nia felt the hurt run through her but she replaced this feeling with anger.

 _Whatever! They should just shut up and go away!_

The teasing grew worse as peers and adults instantly recognized her face that they thought was below average. Her figure was decent but not "banging". She was a bit on the tall side standing around 165-168 cm or 5'5 to just barely 5'6 compared to the kunoichi her age. Karui and her were pretty much the same height with Nia hardly noticeably taller by maybe a centimeter or less. Her weight wasn't exactly in the great shape of a ninja but wasn't very overweight either. Though she tried, her figure wasn't on par with her other female teammates.

"Yo!" A tall built man with black shades approached the girl.

"I don't feel like talking right now, Bee." Nia averted her eyes.

"Nonsense! There's always time for a little talkin." Killer Bee spoke as if he was rapping.

"..."

Bee noticed the sad look in Nia's eyes. He frowned then placed his hand on her shoulder, "Rough day, huh?"

Nia tensed, "It doesn't matter."

She then brushed Bee's hand off her and walked away with her head down. Bee watched her as she left.

 _Ignoring others isn't her strong suit, she should get a hobby..._

Taking out his pencil and notepad, Bee scribbles out the words he just used. "Nah, that ain't rhyme, that was whack."

"Oh, Naruto." A shy Hyuga watched her crush throwing rocks into a small lake in front of him from behind a tree.

She had heard the news of Sasuke's death and was saddened by it like the others, but not nearly on the same level as the Uchiha's former teammates clearly. She's seen the effect it took on Naruto, but didn't have enough courage to approach him and find the right words to comfort him. If there were any words that could anyway.

Naruto stared at his reflection in the water.

 _I can't get my mind off of it. No matter what I do, say, or think, I can't get Sasuke off my mind._

"Damn it!" Naruto said through gritted teeth.

 _I can't bring you back no matter what I do! There's just no-_

A sound of a stick breaking caught the blonde's attention and drove him out of his thoughts.

"Who's there?!"

Hinata, who had made that sound incidentally, was panicking. She didn't mean to step on the stick. She just wanted a better look at the genin. When she saw Naruto looking around, the girl took a deep breath in then quickly said, "N-Naruto."

Picking the soft nervous voice up, Naruto jumped onto a branch then looked down at the long-haired girl.

"Hinata, that you down there?" He smiled, "What are you doing here? If you're looking for Kiba, he already headed home."

Hinata turned left and right but didn't see her love, though she heard his wonderful voice.

 _Where could he be?_

"Above you."

 _Huh?_

Hinata glances up and makes eye contact with Naruto.

"There y-you are, N-Naruto." She blushed in the face.

"Well yeah." The blonde responded as he dropped to the ground again.

It got quiet as Hinata stared down at the ground while nervously playing with her fingers. Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he saw Hinata doing the same gesture that he had thought was a bit strange.

"Hinata..."

"Yes Naruto?"

"Uh, you never answered my question. What are you doing here?"

Hinata thought of something quickly; She didn't want to tell Naruto that she was practically staring at him from a distance.

"Oh that... I was... I was um..."

Naruto blinked as he waited for Hinata to finish speaking.

"I was just looking for a spot to do some laundry." Hinata said with a smile.

"Oh." Naruto chuckled, "I thought that you were here to give me a lecture about what's been happening lately. Thank goodness you're not."

Hinata's heart sunk as she heard his words.

"Why... would you think that?"

Naruto stopped chuckling then got a bit serious, "Everyone's been trying to tell me to get Sasuke's' death off my mind, but when they say things like that, it makes it that much difficult for me to do that, you know?"

 _Oh Naruto._

"Ay Naruto!" Naruto's master interrupts the small talk Hinata was having with her crush.

"Pervy Sage?" Naruto puts a hand over his forehead and squints his eyes to get better view of the sennin standing on top of a hill behind Hinata.

"Jiraiya-sensei is here?" Hinata turned around and sees the man himself.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto yelled.

"Well, I came here to tell you that you and I are going on a small trip!" Jiraiya answered while looking incredibly excited.

Naruto didn't look too psyched as the grown man did when he watched him jumping on each foot like some little kid finding out he was getting candy from his parents.

 _This can't be good..._

"Hurry now, you don't want to miss out on this!" Jiraiya continued to hop.

"This isn't another one of your Pervy "research" trips, is it?" Naruto asked.

"Why yes it is!" Jiraiya snickers while thinking of all the beautiful women he hoped to catch a glimpse of.

"In that case, no thank y-"

"I'll teach you a whole new jutsu if you go along, Naruto."

"What?! Really?!" The young man became eager.

Jiraiya nod. He then noticed the quiet girl next to his pupil.

"Hey, who's your friend?"

"Hm?" Naruto calms himself from Jiraiya's offer. He looks at Hinata, "You mean Hinata?"

"Oh brother, you have no idea how to introduce people, do you?" Jiraiya face palmed and shook his head.

"Excuse Naruto, Sir. My name is Hinata Hyuga. It's nice to finally meet you." Hinata politely introduced herself with a small bow afterwards.

"Ah, so you must know me if you're saying finally."Jiraiya grinned like an idiot, "Do all the women in the village know my name? Maybe every women in all five great nations perhaps."

Again the sage becomes carried away in his fantasies.

"Yeah right." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Um, Naruto?" Hinata spoke up.

Naruto looked at her. Hinata's blush returned to her face as she smiled sweetly, "Do your best, okay?"

Naruto nodded and smirked then balled his hand into a fist of determination, "Of course! This training will be a piece of cake."

"Yeah."

Just before Naruto prepared to head home and pack up a few things for his trip with Jiraiya, he thought of his female teammate that still wouldn't leave her home to do anything.

"Hinata, can you do me a favor?"

"Anything. What is it, Naruto?"

"Sakura's still won't bring herself out of her house cause of Sasuke. I can't find the right words to say to her in order to get her to breathe some fresh air without feeling a bit hypocritical. I need you and the others to find a way to comfort her while I'm with Pervy Sage. Do you think you can handle that for me?"

Hinata hesitated but eventually agreed to it, "I'll try my best."

"Great!" Naruto grinned, "You're the best, Hinata."

Butterflies erupted in the Hyuga's stomach upon hearing Naruto's kind words, "T-T-Thank you, Naruto."

With that, the ninja jumped up to the top of the hill with his master but not before saying, "When I get back, I'll show you what I've learned, Hinata."

This excited the girl.

"Sounds good." She responded as she interlocked her fingers near her chest while psyched about spending more time with her beloved soon after he returns to the village.

"Later." The blonde waves.

"Bye, Naruto. Train hard."

Slamming the door behind her, Nia climbed onto her bed and pulled the covers over her head very aggressively. Something as simple as walking through town couldn't be accomplished without many snickering and making fun of her behind her back. Her mind was in turmoil and her confidence was shattered to bits.

Misumi, who was already in the room, frowned as she once again witnessed the heartbreak in her sister's expression just before she got into bed.

 _'Not again'_ She spoke in her mind, ' _Why does this gotta happen every day? Can't Nia learn to just ignore everyone?'_

A knock sounded at the door just before it opened. There stood the father of Misumi and Nia: Jin Umino.

Unlike his brother who was tall and quite built, Jin was rather a shorter man who stood about 5'9 and had a large frame. He had short dark brown hair with a few greys here and there, dark brown eyes that were somewhat small like Nia's, a goatee with a trimmed beard that also had grey hair in a few spots, and a tan complexion like Misumi's.

"Don't be slamming the doors every time you get home! How many times do I have to tell you this before you listen?" Jin scolds his second oldest daughter after hearing the noise she made.

"I don't care. Leave me alone!" Nia talked back.

This angered her father, "Don't talk back to me. You'll show me some respect."

' _Whatever'_ Nia thought.

"Can you please just leave me alone, Dad? I don't feel like being bothered right now."

"What happened? Did you fail a mission or something?" Jin asked.

"No." Nia muttered.

"Then what?"

"I don't wanna talk about it. I just wanna be alone."

"Fine." Jin sighed, "If you wanna talk later, then you can. Love you."

Nia didn't say anything as her father closed the door.

In the hall, Nia's nineteen-year-old and seventeen-year-old two older brothers, Mimino and Masou listened to the small argument while her 23-year-old older sister walked out her room across from Nia's and asked what was the yelling about.

Inside her room, Nia struggled to keep from crying. Her stress was giving her a headache and she couldn't find a way to relieve herself from her sensitive nature.

 _Why do I always have to be treated like an outcast just cause of my appearance?! It's not fair! If I was just a bit more natural looking then I wouldn't be bullied all the time! Argh!_

"Misumi, do you know when the Raikage is leaving to the Hidden Stone Village?" Nia tried not to growl as she came up with an idea.

"Wasn't it this morning?" Misumi responded.

Nia clenched her bed sheet.

 _Good. If the Raikage is gone a few days then maybe I'll be able to leave this stupid village and search for the guy I always wanted to meet and learn from. Jiraiya-sensei._

Wiping her tears, Nia threw her blanket off and grabbed a book off a shelf by her door. Actually, it was a diary. The thing she kept since she was a preteen. Recently, she bought a new one since she ran out of pages to write about her thoughts and feelings in her old one. That one was pure white with a pink silk around it with a rose the same color attached to it on the front. Her newer one was pink with a grey silk around it with a white rose attached to it. There was a grey keyhole on the side of it. Nia made sure her sister wasn't looking when she grabbed her key from in between two heavy books.

Unlocking it then grabbing a pencil, Nia wrote:

 _ **June 20th, 10:20 AM**_

 _Dear Diary,_  
 _I just found out that the Raikage left earlier than I suspected. For a while, I've been planning to leave this village and head out to the Hidden Leaf to find the great Jiraiya-sensei. This is the chance for me to do that! I've always wanted to properly learn ninjutsu and for sure become a better writer. Now I can accomplish that! Oh I can't wait! This is gonna be awesome, you know!_

Closing her diary, Nia then begins to search for her mission bag and stuffs in some clothes and gear in there. Misumi noticed this and asked what her sister was doing.

"Just remembered that I have another mission today." She sorta lied. Nia considered what she was going to do to be one, but it was in no means assigned to her by the Raikage, "It begins in the afternoon or nighttime actually."

"How long is it supposed to last?" Misumi questioned.

"At least two weeks. If not, more then."

Misumi raised an eyebrow.

 _Two weeks or more? That's a long time..._

Nia's bag was filling up quickly. She made sure she had everything she needed.

 _Kunai, shuriken, paper bombs, book, clothes, mission coat, headband, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, hairbrush, comb, rubber band... Um..._

The brown-skinned girl felt as though she was missing something. She looked around her room.

 _What is it? What am I missing?_

"You're leaving your diary here for once?" Misumi asked.

"Oh yeah!" Nia realized her diaries weren't in her bag. She stuffed both in there with a pen and pencil with an eraser then slid the bag over her shoulders.

"Misumi, Mom and Dad already know about this trip so don't worry about me while I'm gone, okay?"

"Uh yeah." The brown-haired girl nodded while not bothering to look at her sister as she would rather stare at the polish she was putting on her toe nails, "See you later then."

"Bye." Nia walked out her room and down the stairs to the dining room.

Her family members were minding their own business and Nia went to the small kitchen and opened the drawers to find a mask to conceal her face when she leaves the village gates. She rummaged through everything and eventually found what she was looking for.

"All right!"

Taking interest in their sibling walking towards the door, the three oldest question her about where she was going. Nia told them she had a last minute mission and wouldn't be back for a while before rushing out the door. No one stopped her as she left.

Placing the mask on her so that the villagers wouldn't tease her and bring back her insecurities, Nia leaped onto the roofs of buildings and ran across them in order to get to a exit in her village. The mask was white and had two wide painted red stripes on each side of it.

Nia thought to herself as she ran forward with her arms behind her.

 _Once I get the proper training from Jiraiya-sensei, I'll show everyone that I'm more than just my appearance! They'll focus on my other attributes and won't reject me from gaining the respect everyone should have. I hate them! I did nothing to them and yet they act like I did! Argh! I'll never feel the need to protect this damn village ever in this lifetime. Never!_

 **A/N- This chapter was interesting to write somewhat. Nia sorta feels like a villain to me in this one. Oh well, I'm just happy about writing aboutthatNaruHina stuff in the middle lol. Felt nice :) Hope you guys enjoyed reading this hehe. Please comment your thoughts.I REALLY do appreciate your support guys. Itputs a smile on my face. Thx for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Encountering An Uchiha**

There was the village gates. Nia observed the guards in their small area relaxing and having a good time. Those two guys were irritating to the teen. Whenever she was to leave or return from her missions, they were always the first to snicker behind her back and sometimes openly make fun of her in a cruel way.

 _Argh! Can't they just disappear for once?! They're blocking my way out._

Now Nia was forced to think of a diversion to drive away the men's attention. She dug through her bag searching for something useful. She grabbed a paper bomb.

 _This should do..._

Wrapping the flat paper into a ball, Nia throws it as high as she could in the sky, jumped down from the building she was on, and took cover behind a large Boulder.

 **BOOM!**

"Ahhhh!" Many villagers duck to the ground as soon as the bomb went off.

The guards immediately responded to the event and quickly left their positions. Nia saw this and hurriedly made a sprint to the gates. Since everyone was completely distracted by her previous action, the sixteen-year-old was able to roam free from the Hidden Cloud.

She decided to take the way through the forest instead of by water since it was the quickest way to the Leaf. Maybe she could make a stop at a few smaller villages and ask about Jiraiya's whereabouts and restock her supplies while doing so just in case.

"That was surprisingly easy." Nia smirked as she watched smoke spread in the air from outside the gates of Kumogakure.

She then turned around and stared ahead of her.

 _Now, this is where the real journey begins. I will find you Jiraiya-sensei and I will become your pupil!_

 *********

Her room was dark with the blinds closed along with her curtains. Sakura had her head on a pillow and stared at the wall across from her. Her pupils were not visible. The young woman was in complete grief and despair. She truly loved her fallen teammate.

"Sakura!" Her blonde mother calls her name from the front door, "Your friends are here, Dear!"

"Mhm..." Sakura flipped around on her bed.

"Sakuraaa!"

"I don't feel like talking to anyone, Mom! Tell them I don't wanna be bothered today." The pink-haired kunoichi yelled.

Outside, Hinata and the others could hear the conversation between Sakura and her parent. Shikamaru sighed as he thought there was no way of reaching Sakura in her current state.

"This is such a drag, you guys... Let's just leave the girl alone?" He suggested.

"Shikamaru." Ino scolded, "We're not gonna leave Sakura like this. We gotta try something!"

"Look, I'm just saying-"

"Sakura!" Hinata suddenly yelled, catching everyone off guard, "Please let us speak with you. I and everyone else have something important to tell you."

Sakura, overhearing Hinata's unusually loud voice, lifted her head up.

 _Was that Hinata I just heard?_

"Please, I have a message to give you from Naruto since he can't tell you himself!"

 _Naruto?_

"Fine!" Sakura agreed as she sat up in her bed and patted her face awake, "You guys can come in."

"All right!" Ino cheered, "Nice going, Hinata."

"I-It was nothing." Hinata returned to her usually more quiet tone of sound.

 _I just wanted to fulfill Naruto's favor is all..._

The teens walked in the direction that Mrs. Haruno pointed towards. They reached Sakura's room and the young woman allowed her friends in.

"Sakura!" Ino hugged her buddy, "It's nice to see you again. It feels like forever."

"Yeah..."

"It's an honor to see you again, Sakura." Lee grinned and does his nice guy pose as his teeth shined brightly.

Sakura sweat-dropped, but smiled anyway, "Nice to see you too, Lee. It's nice to see all of you as a matter of fact."

"Alright, enough with the reunion, everyone." The jonin of the group, Neji Hyuga, spoke, "Sakura, we need to all discuss about Sasuke and find a way around his unfortunate end whether we like it or not."

 *********

"Pervy Sage, where are we going? My legs are killing me!" Naruto whined as his legs became weaker and weaker with every step he took.

"Stop complaining, would ya?! You'll see when we get there." Jiraiya attempted to reassure his pupil.

Naruto groaned.

"What is making you so exhausted? We've only walked two miles..." The older man stopped and glanced at the younger gentleman.

Naruto dropped to the ground flat on his stomach; He was carrying two heavy luggage over his shoulders: One was his and the other was Jiraiya's.

"You're out of shape, Naruto. Hm, maybe I should have you carrying that the rest of the journey?"

"Ughh, please no..." The blonde pleaded, "No more."

"Oh come on, it can't be that heavy."

"Oh yeah? Why don't you try lifting it up and carrying that thing around the entire way yourself?!"

"You know what? I will." Jiraiya accepted Naruto's indirect challenge.

Naruto remained lying on the floor and removed the straps off his shoulders. His master proceeded to grab his bag.

"Look, this is already as light as a feather." He bragged as he then began to lift Naruto's large luggage, "It's all about tensing up your muscles right before you-"

The bag fell straight to the ground, leaving a small crater. Jiraiya had fell right along with it and hit his head on the rugged ground.

"See?" Naruto responded to the incident, "Its heavy, right?

"You knucklehead!" Jiraiya punched the sixteen-year-old on the head after recovering from his fall, "Your own bag is the reason why you can't keep up with me! What's in here anyways?!"

Zipping open Naruto's bag, Jiraiya sweat-dropped, "Hundreds of cupped ramen... Why am I not surprised?"

The teen chuckled while feeling guilty at the same time, "I don't know how long this trip will take, so I brought my entire stash of ramen with me just in case."

"Well. you're out of luck, Kiddo. Some of these gotta go." Jiraiya grabbed as much ramen as he could and threw them a few feet behind him into puddles of mud.

"GYAHHH!" Naruto flipped out as he immediately rushed to his foods aid.

 _Nooo! Not in the mud! ANYTHING BUT THAT!_

"Did you really have to throw them in the mud?" A long stream of tears ran down Naruto's eyes as he recovered his ramen cups out the mud.

"Look, if we're gonna make any progress, you're gonna have to unload a few things." Jiraiya shakes the last remaining cup ramen out of Naruto's luggage to the ground.

"THAT'S NOT A FEW THINGS!" The young man appeared to the side of his master while carrying a load of his thrown out food in his arms. His expression was that of an angry one now and a vein looked as if it was going to burst, "YOU'RE LITERALLY POURING OUT ALL MY RAMEN, PERVY SAGE!"

Noticing how emotional Naruto got over his cups of ramen, Jiraiya sighed, "When will you ever grow up, Naruto? Fine, I'll stash some of your ramen cups in my bag. However, you're gonna have to treat us to the spa so I could get some more of my research done."

"Yeah, yeah." The blue-eyed male mumbled before separating his ramen in two piles: One side for Jiraiya and the other for himself.

 __

 _Instead of writing those pervy books about women, why can't Pervy Sage just write about an awesome hero or something that's actually entertaining. If he did that, maybe I'll take more of an interest in what he writes and read them. Pervy Sage never changes..._

 *********

Two full days has passed since Nia left her village. She had been hopping from tree to tree in direction of the Hidden Leaf. However, recently, she stopped at a small village and asked about Jiraiya. One person had said that they had seen the senin with a young man who looked about the same age as Nia herself. They gave the girl the area they were in and Nia took off that way.

 _The Raikage should be back in less than a couple days, a few at the most. I need to hurry and find Jiraiya-sensei then go into hiding while also getting in some training and tips for what I really wanna do._

Nia stopped on a branch of a tree. She placed her hand on the tree to support her balance. Her thoughts gained control of her.

 _I never really wanted to be a ninja... I never wanted to grow up having responsibility to protect a village I really hate. In fact, I don't wanna protect anyone except for myself and my family! I never really wanted to be a ninja... I never wanted to grow up having responsibility to protect a village I really hate. In fact, I don't wanna protect anyone except for myself and my family! Everything and everyone else is garbage._

Nia had always heard the talk about friends and bonds through Bee, whom she considered an uncle. However, she doesn't care about that particular bond. Friendship is something she doesn't understood very well. The young lady has people she considers "friends", but in reality, they aren't. The proper term would be acquaintances because of the way she views, treats, and feels for them.

None is important to her. None is really worth keeping contact with. As a result, she has lost some of those bonds. Her reasoning for making "friends" is selfish and not at all right. She only wants someone around when it makes her look less lonely at times or if she feels she's in a awkward situation. It's never because she genuinely wants to be by their side. In fact, Nia really couldn't care less about even having friends. To her, friends are dead last for everything. She's very selfish towards them and sees them as invaluable.

As the wind blew, Nia took her mask off to get some air.

 _I'm wasting time thinking about dumb things, I need to get moving... I don't wanna be standing aroun- huh? Who's that?_

Below her, a male was strolling down a trail. He wore clothing similar to the one Team Kakashi had found just weeks prior. His black hair and eyes, figure, and milk-like color of skin, had Nia's eyes bulging out in the shape of hearts.

 _Wow! That guy is hot!_

Sasuke Uchiha is alive and well! The young man is freely roaming about on his search for his older brother Itachi. The Uchiha was already aware of a presence near him. He stopped.

"Why are you watching me?" He asked out loud.

When Nia gave no reply, Sasuke took out his sword, jumped high into the branches and slashed the one Nia was standing on. She ungracefully landed on her face. The move Sasuke made was very unpredictable.

Nia recovered and slipped her mask back on. Sasuke descended to the ground in front of her.

 _Man, why did he have to catch me off guard like that?_

Sasuke saw the mask Nia wore.

 _That mask... could she be working for the ANBU?_

"Who are you?" He slid his sword in his sheathe.

"That shouldn't matter. I'm not a threat to you." Nia answered.

"Hmph!" Sasuke walked forward, "If so, stay clear from me or else."

The young man passed Nia and continued his own path. Once the coast was clear, Nia slid to her knees and clutched her chest.

"PHEW!" She controlled her breathing, "That guy seemed cold... His presence... It felt... terrifying. I'll make sure to stay clear from him for sure. I bet I'm lucky to still be alive."

Suddenly, Sasuke's face had rang a bell. However, Nia couldn't exactly pinpoint who she thought the handsome man could be. All she knew was that... He definitely wasn't your average every day ninja.

 __

 _Better write what just happened in my diary before I continue on my way..._

 **-**

 **A/N: Chapter completed! I actually had a nice time typing this one. I really like the part with Naruto and his ramen and where Nia encountered Sasuke. They're my favorite parts. The part with the explosion was fun to write too! :D**

 **Oh and yeah I have a new cover! I made it all by myself :D I think it turned out nicely. I really liked my other cover but over time, I got bored with the pictures I used and wanted to give it a more unique look. I hope you guys liked this chapter and new book cover as much as I do. Plz share your thoughts and vote! Thx for reading:)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Paths Intertwine**

Nia entered the border of a small village. She took off her mask to get more air. She then couldn't tell which village it was that she was in nor did she really care. All she wanted to know was if she could get a place to rest in as it was already nighttime  
and was exhausted from her almost non-stop journey.

"Excuse me." Nia tapped a brown-haired man's shoulder.

"Yes?" He responded.

"Do you know if there is a place that I can stay in for the night?"

"Tch, yeah right." The man scoffed as he gave the girl an offending look.

Nia got confused.

 _Why is he looking at me like that?_

"A hideous looking girl like you shouldn't even be in this village. There's no way anyone will let you stay the night here. Only beautiful women are allowed. Not E.T's or animals."

This comment shattered the kunoichi's heart. It was unexpected and rude.

"Huh? What are you-"

"Hey guys!" The male ninja gestures for the other villagers to come over, "Come look at this chick, she looks like a monster!"

Other members of the village gathered around in a circle. Snickers were heard and fingers were being pointed at the teen.

"Ew! Do you even care about what you look like to others? You're killing our eyes with your grotesque features!" A woman with red hair hissed.

"Children and the elderly shouldn't be around you. You're too ugly to be in a place like this! You should be ashamed of yourself, young lady." An older woman with specks of grey in her hair insulted the teen.

Nia felt the pain of being called ugly. She was used to being called that in her village but she never thought of hearing others say that to her outside of it.

"And just look at her body!" This time, a teenaged boy laughed, "She's fatter than most kunoichi!"

At this remark, everyone laughed along with the young man.

Nia lowered her head. Her bangs made a dark shade over her eyes. She bit her lip and felt her fist tense up.

"Yeah! You're right, Kid!" The villagers continue with their laughter.

"Even all the summoning animals look better than her!"

"Go get toned, fatty!" A teen girl yelled, "It's hard to look at you. Don't you need to be in shape to protect your own village?!"

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" Nia loses her temper while her eyes made contact with everyone else's, "I hate my village! I couldn't care less what happens to it and you know what? I HATE YOU SHALLOW, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING DOUCHEBAGS TOO! I HOPE ONE OF THE FIVE GREAT  
NATIONS EXTERMINATE YOU PEOPLE!"

Everyone stayed quiet for a short moment. After about five seconds, they began throwing numerous, more insensitive comments and remarks.

No one seemed to notice the long-haired man approaching the crowd. He had just got done spending time in a hot spring doing "research" and was now in the mood for dinner.

"What do I feel like eating today...? Hmm..." Jiraiya pondered.

"You know what, Rat? We're gonna drive you out of this village with violence. You had your chance to leave peacefully but you lost that shot with your idiotic insult." The same brown-haired man prepared to start a mob.

This did not go unheard by the great sennin. He watched as the crowd began to take steps toward a young female with glasses in the center of the circle. He knew right away that something was wrong.

"Hey now!" The tall man stepped in, "What are you people trying to do with this girl?!"

"We want her out! No beast is allowed in this village!" A majority of villagers rage.  
 _  
_

 _'Beast?'_ Jiraiya thought in his mind.

Without looking towards the man who attempted to make peace, Nia kicked herself off the ground and out the circle of ninja then hopped onto the roofs of homes until she left the small vicious village.

Her heart was filled with sadness once more. She placed the mask back on and continued fleeing.

Meanwhile, the arguable leader of Team Seven had just finished doing some training in the forest out of the village. With the moon only being his light in the darkness, Naruto decided to reunite with his master.

He grabbed his bag and jumped up into the trees.  
 _  
_

 _'I better stop sneaking off behind Pervy Sage's back. I never know how long the old man will be here. He could leave me behind.'_ He thought.

Naruto leaped off a few more branches. In the distance, he could see someone approaching ahead. He took caution just in case, and went into hiding.

 _Who could it be?_

Nia's eyes were dripping with tears. Her mask was covering them but eventually she broke into sobs and needed it off to breathe properly. With each hop she made, Naruto could see that the person who was approaching was a female after peeking his head  
out from behind a tree.

He could hear the heartbreak in her cries with each breath she took. They were loud moans and the blonde couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with the girl.

Finally, she passed by him. Nia had her finger up to her right eye in a attempt to keep it from releasing more tears then did the same with her left. However, after not more than a second, a few tears did escape and hit Naruto right on his left cheek.  
He then wiped the tears off his face and looked at his finger.

"That girl came from the direction of the village back there..." He comes out of hiding, "Did something bad happen?"

Again, Naruto continued his way to the village he was supposed to be in.

"I better get a move on and see if Pervy Sage is alright."

It took a few minutes but Naruto made it back to the town of ninja. He spotted Jiraiya surrounded by a group of three lovely-looking women. Each were under his arms and sharing a drink with him as he laughed in amusement while clearly being drunk.

"Who wants to give a smooch to Jiraiya first?" The man brought the women closer to him as they all giggle.

Naruto grunted with a annoyed look.

"Pervy Sage!" He called.

Jiraiya spotted his student and gestured for the boy to come over, "There you are, Naruto. Look what I've got here! A trio of hot women."

"Err..."

"What's with that look you're giving me?!" Jiraiya raises the saki he's holding in the air in a angry fashion, "You're jealous aren't you?!"

Naruto gave no expression, "No... I just... well..."

"Spit it out already! You what?!"

"Well... Just a few minutes ago, I saw some girl with glasses heading away from this village. She looked really upset. Did you see her here?"

Suddenly, the three woman chuckled. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

A blonde woman with brown eyes told Naruto, "That girl was not suitable to be in a village like this."

"Yeah, she looks like a monster while we all look like angels." A red-haired woman with yellow eyes spoked next.

"No one who looks like her shouldn't even think about being around here." A green-haired woman finished.

Naruto appeared shocked about what each woman had to say.

"Monster...?" He repeated.

"That's right." The red-haired woman smirked, "The type of face that would frighten anyone. It was hard to look at that girl."

The green-haired woman laughed, "Yeah! And what was up with her eyebrow?"

"They were all curled up and horrible." The blonde woman cringed.

Jiraiya, although not liking how the woman were cruelly making fun of the child that he tried to save earlier, he didn't want the woman to walk away from him and pretended to laugh with them. The rest of the villagers still around had overheard the conversation  
and laughed along with the four others.

Naruto gave Jiraiya a disapproving look. He stared downwards as he thought back to the girl he saw in the forest sobbing. His fists curled into a ball.

 _I see... That's why she was crying..._

The blonde looked all around him. Though this situation was different than the one he dealt with, the truth of the matter was, someone was being looked down upon on for being seemingly of less worth and value. It was some form of teasing. Something Naruto  
has gone through for most of his life.

"And so what if that girl looked different from you guys! That doesn't give you the right to go calling someone a monster just cause of the way they look!" Naruto scolded then placed his fist over his heart, "It's not the face that makes someone a monster!  
It's the choices they make with their life! Don't you people have any respect or kindness in you?! How could you just say that to someone and watch them take off with tears running down their cheeks?!"

The villagers became eerily quiet. So quiet all that was being heard was the wind blowing. Jiraiya sighed and went over to his student.

"Naruto... When will you learn to keep quiet?" He tells the sixteen-year-old.

The sannin faced the crowd, "Uh, forgive this kid, everyone. He's been in a bad mood all day. He doesn't know what he's saying. I hope you all understand."

"Whatever..." A man replied, "Just take the boy out of our sight. He's a nuisance."

"What'd you say!" A vein showed on Naruto's temple.

"Alright, let's get going, Naruto." Jiraiya pushed the younger male forward after turning him around by the shoulders.

Naruto angrily raised his fists in the air while looking back at the man who called him a nuisance, "I dare you to call me that one more time! I'll teach you not to call me a nuisance!"

"Ugh..." Jiraiya rolled his eyes.

 _He can be such a kid sometimes..._

 *********

The night had passed to afternoon . Nia had fallen asleep high on a tree branch during that time. The chilly wind and her emotions kept her awake till almost dawn.

Below her, Naruto and Jiraiya had already resumed their journey. The village had given them food and water so that the two would stay alive and healthy. Again, Naruto was having a hard time carrying the extra weight of his bag.

"Ugh, my back is killing me!" He whined.

"Oh brother." Jiraiya groaned, "Not this again."

"Ah..." Naruto passed out on the ground, "I can't... No more."

"What do you mean you can't? Aren't you the guy who always brags about not giving up?"

"Yeah, but I'm not that guy right now."

Jiraiya face-palmed himself, "What am I ever gonna do with you, Naruto?"

"Pervy Sage, lend me a hand would ya?"

"Nope. I'm leaving without you, Bud." Jiraiya waved as he moved forward.

"Hey!" Naruto squirmed around, "You can't just leave me here!"

"Later Narutooo!" Jiraiya responded.

"No, Pervy Sage! Waiiiiit!"

Naruto struggled to get on his feet. He grunted as he took wide steps forward. He wore determination on his face. Jiraiya was still walking ahead with no problems.

"Pervy SAAAGE!" Naruto called.

"I'm not waiting to get some research done at the next village we stop in, Naruto. Either you move quickly or stay behind and get no training from me!"

"Come on! You can wai- GUAHHH!"

 **Smack!**

Someone had fallen right onto Naruto's back and squashed him to the ground. Jiraiya heard the ruckus and turned around to see that the same female he saw fled away from the village had landed on his student.

"Look what we have here..."

Nia had turned in her sleep and incidentally threw herself off the tree branch. Naruto was just unlucky to be standing right below her at that moment.

"Naruto, you alright down there?" Jiraiya asked, not bothering to lift Nia off the blonde.

"JUST GET THIS THING OFF ME, WILL YA?!" Naruto yelled in the dirt.

Jiraiya sighed heavily, "This "thing" is a human being you know. Actually, it's that girl you were defending back in the village. Remember, the one everyone was insulting?"

 _Hmm? Her?!_

As if using his kyuubi chakra, Naruto lifted himself out the ground and held onto the sleepy girl next to him.

"Huh? It is her." He said as he remembered what she looked like when she passed by him in the forest.

Naruto spotted Nia's glasses on the ground and grabbed it. He also saw a mask and examined it.

"Is she part of an ANBU?" Jiraiya noticed the painted mask as well.

"I don't think so." Naruto answered, "Look, this mask is completely different from the ones we've ever seen. I think it's just some random mask."

"I think you're right... This one is different from the others." Jiraiya nodded.

Naruto stared at the girl in his arms. She looked very familiar to him but he just couldn't think of anyone in particular that he knew.

"Pervy Sage, what are we gonna do? Should we wake her?"

"I don't see the harm in trying."

Naruto nodded then shaked the teen girl, "Hey! Hey, wake up!"

Nia's eyes stayed shut.

"Hey!" Naruto patted Nia's cheeks, "Hello! It's afternoon, you know! This isn't the time to be sleeping in a forest!"

Nia wouldn't budge. She was in a deep sleep.

Naruto sweat dropped, "Ughhh..."

"Here's an idea: Why don't you take that girl back to the village we were just in? They'll take care of her till she wakes up." Jiraiya lifted his index finger, "That way we can move forward to our destination!"

"Whaaaa? Are you crazy?!" Naruto glared at the older man, "We can't bring her back over there! They'll probably harm her!"

"Oh..." Jiraiya remembered the predicament back last nigh, "Right. They'll definitely have a mob after the poor girl."

Jiraiya then noticed something fall out of the bag Nia carried on her back. It was a book.

"Hmm, what's this?" Jiraiya picked it up.

He gasped when he read the title, "No way... What's this doing in this girl's bag."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto looked at the white-haired man.

Jiraiya opened the book and saw pages covered with underlining, circles, and hearts on certain sentences and words. One thing that caught Jiraiya's eye was where each heart was placed around each time. It was around a certain name.

"Naruto." He read quietly.

 _Does this girl admire the protagonist of my book...?_

"Eh? Did you say something, Pervy Sage?"

"It's nothing, Naruto."

Nia's ears perked. She stirred slightly. Naruto and Jiraiya noticed this.

"Hey, I think she's waking up."

Once more, Nia went back to the way she was. She didn't move.

"What? Why did she fall back asleep?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"Beats me, Naruto." Jiraiya shrugged.

Again, Nia stirred. However, she smiled this time.

Naruto blinked, "What the- Why is she smiling?"

Jiraiya crossed his arms.

 _Every time I speak, she moves. Hmm... Hold on. Does she react that way because I keep saying Naruto?_

"Hey, let's make a bet." Jiraiya slapped Naruto's back.

"What bet? Can't you put that on hold for later."

"No sorry." Jiraiya responded, making what he said sound like "Nursery."

"Fine, what's the bet?"

Jiraiya giggled as a perverted thought entered his mind, "If this girl wakes up to me saying your name, you got to show me your sexy jutsu at its best."

"And if she doesn't?" Naruto looked annoyed.

"Well I'll serve you all the Ichiraku ramen you desire."

"You will?!" Naruto's eyes sparkled.

"I sure will!"

"All right! You're on, Pervy Sage!"  
 _  
_

 _What you don't know Naruto is that I have an advantage on this bet... Heh..._

"Naruto!" Jiraiya yelled.

Nia kept her smile but didn't open her eyes.

Naruto smiled and looked back, "Do you smell that, Pervy Sage?! It's the smell of great cooked ramen awaiting me to devour it!"

"This isn't over yet! Naruto! Naruto! Naruto! Naruto!"

"Hey! You can't do that!" Naruto yelled, "You already said my name once."

"And? I never said that I was going to say it just once."

"Eh?"

Both Jiraiya and Naruto quit bickering then watched as Nia twitched and fluttered her eyes open.

"Huh?" She awoke to a pair of sapphire blue innocent eyes looking down at her.

"Heh!" Naruto smiled widely, "Hey sleepyhead, it's afternoon, you know..."

"Afternoon?"

"Yeah."

Suddenly, Nia got enough of her sense back to realize that a young man was holding her upright in his arms. Blood rushed quickly to her face then steam poured out of it.

"Eh?" Naruto witnessed this and lightens his hold.

 _'Why is a boy here? And why is he holding me like this?!'_ Nia freaked out in her thoughts.

"Waaaaa!" Nia squirmed out of Naruto's grasp and backed up, "Why are you touching me?!"

Naruto was about to speak but Jiraiya interrupted.

"You know, sleeping up on that tree all night isn't something you should do when it's a very chilly night." He said.

Nia looked up. Her eyes immediately sparkled upon seeing the man she's dreamed of meeting since a long while ago.

"Jiraiya-sensei! Is that really you?!"

"The one and only!" The old man straightened himself up and placed his knuckles on each side of his hip then laughed obnoxiously.

 _Oh my gosh! This can't be happening!_

Nia cupped her hands around her mouth and nose. Her excitement over finding her desired future master was beginning to take over her.

"If you know Pervy Sage over there, you must know who I am too." Naruto stood up and walked towards the girl his age, "The name's Na-"

"Jiraiya-sensei!" Nia ran then shoved Naruto back to the ground and out of her way. She next jumped and hugged Jiraiya around his neck while kicking her legs behind her, "I can't believe I finally get to meet you! This is the greatest day of my life!"

"Woah there." Jiraiya watched the under aged girl squirm about, "Why don't you try calming down a bit and telling me a little about yourself?"

"Oh right!" Nia listened and released Jiraiya, "My name is Nia Umino! I came searching for you so that you may take me to be your student!"

The girl then bowed politely.

Behind her, Naruto recovered and placed his hand on the girl's shoulder. Nia looked at him.

"What was that all about?!" He pouted while pointing at his cheek, "You totally rammed your elbow into my face!"

"Oh uh... Sorry."

"Hmph!" Naruto acted immature and crossed his arms, "Sure doesn't sound like it!"

Nia didn't exactly like being in the presence of Naruto. She immediately assumed that he was judging her in his mind and calling her all sorts of names already. She stayed silent towards him.

Jiraiya went over to the blonde and patted him on the head, "Don't mind, Naruto. He's actually nice once you get to know him."

Nia's heart skipped a beat and her face flushed, "D-Did you say Naruto?"

Jiraiya saw the young woman's expression.

 _Thought so... She's in love with the protagonist of Tales Of a Gutsy Ninja... Hehe, a little unexpected and strange but the guy is a hero after all and chicks dig that._

"Er... Don't get all flustered over the fact that Naruto shares the same name of the protagonist in my novel. He's the complete opposite of the guy." Jiraiya laughed.

"Ah! No, I wasn't fluste- wait, how did you know that I've read your book before if I've never told you?" Nia became embarrassed.

Jiraiya swung her book in his hand, "This fell out your bag."

 _'No way!'_ Nia thought as she looked over her back to see her bag opened.

She looked down with rosy cheeks.

 _Ohhh... That's embarrassing! Now he knows I have a crush on a nonexistent character I bet..._

"Hey, why are you all timid? We're not gonna hurt you or anything." Naruto spoked.

Both him and Nia then exchanged glances. At the same time, they pointed at one another.

"Hold on! I've seen you before!" They say in unison.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, "You two met before?"

"Yeah." Nia nodded while Naruto placed his thumb and index finger to his chin.

"I can't remember exactly who you are though. But I know I've seen you somewhere." Naruto said.

"Those blue eyes and weird facial markings give you out immediately! It's a dead giveaway. You're that kid I played with a few times as a kid back in the Hidden Leaf!" Nia finally refreshed her memory.

Naruto was still having a difficult time remembering where he seen the girl. There was no denying that he's seen her but trying to remember her name was making his brain exhausted.

"Ugh..." Naruto slumped his arms and dropped his head down, "I got nothing."

Nia sweat-dropped, "Well, it has been years."

Naruto looked back up and saw something very recognizable. Nia's left eyebrow was curled upwards at the center of it. A light bulb appeared at the top of his head.

"Curly Brow!" He pointed at her, "Now I remember you!"

"Curly Brow?" Nia repeated almost sadly.

"Yeah! I thought they were kinda weird when I first saw them. I've never seen anyone with an eyebrow like yours." Naruto nodded quickly while staring at it, "Yep! That's definitely out of the norm."

Jiraiya punched Naruto on the head right after, "You idiot! Show a little more respect, would you? Your stupid nicknames can hurt people's feelings! Besides, those whiskers on your cheeks aren't exactly normal either!"

"Ow!" Naruto squatted and held his hands over the spot that ached, "Her eyebrow is the only thing I remember about her! I called her that because I don't know her name at all."

"My name is Nia Umino." The girl repeated herself.

"Were you not listening when she told us her name the first time, Naruto?" Jiraiya asked.

"Sorry that I couldn't hear with my face in the dirt." Naruto reminded his master that Nia pushed him to the ground when she introduced herself the first time.

Jiraiya chuckled while Naruto got offended by it. Nia blankly stared at the blonde as he yelled at Jiraiya.  
 _  
_

 _This boy is immature... I can tell he's definitely not like the protagonist in the book I'm reading. Besides, I always imagined Naruto to be a tall guy with black hair and eyes but this boy has blonde hair and blue eyes. Not to mention, I look a bit taller than him. He's the complete opposite of the Naruto in the novel._

Nia sighed in disappointment.

 _The other guy I saw the other day looked more like the dear Naruto I heart so much! He was at least the same height as me and he was very handsome too!_

Nia stared at Naruto.

 _This guy is ehh. Maybe he's that way to me because I'm not very interested in blondes...?_

"So, Nia..." Jiraiya catched the girl's attention. He appeared serious, "Tell me why you're not in your village. I highly doubt you're on a mission right now."

 **-**

 ****

 **A/N- Finally I'm done! This chapter felt long for me to write geesh.I hope you all liked this chapter though! We finally got Nia to meet her hero and... Naruto... Lol. Gotta love him and Jiraiya though! Those two are hilarious!**

 ****

 **Anyway, this chapter was fun to write. Please excuse Nia's language when she yelled at the villagers. I just wanted to show how deeply their insults affected her emotions. I don't mean to make that scene super dramatic or anything. Please share your thoughts and leave a vote! Thx for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: I Beg Of You**

The early sun was rising upon the faces of Naruto, Nia, and Jiraiya. Currently, the sannin was still waiting for an answer out of Nia's mouth.

"Well..." He said, "Are you gonna explain yourself? What are you doing away from your village?"

Nia quivered but remained tall. Her hands trembled but she placed them behind her so that neither of the male ninja would notice her uneasiness.

Would Jiraiya accept her? Would she have to head back to her village disappointed or would she somehow force the man to accept her as a pupil?

"Mmm..." She hummed, "I left... my village. I went rogue."

"What?!" Naruto gritted his teeth. This reply had made him agitated, "Why would you do something like that? Do you even realize what you've done?"

"Of course!" Nia barked back, " And I don't regret it at all! Not a single bit!"

"But-" Naruto leaned forward before Jiraiya puts his arm in front of the younger male.

"That's enough, Naruto."

Nia looked away from the blonde when he made eye contact with her. It wasn't shyness that made her do it but the fact that she didn't want to look in the eye of someone who appeared either disappointed or angry with her. It greatly bothered her.

"Nia... What made you leave your village?" Jiraiya asked softly.

Nia's eyes drifted to the ground. She thought of all the insults, laughter, bitterness, loneliness, and depression she dealt with.

"I left because... Because..."

The dark-haired girl shook her head, "Just forget about all that! The main reason I left is because I wanna be a better ninja! But most of all, I wanna be just like you, Jiraiya-sensei!"

"Eh? Just like me?" Jiraiya pointed at himself.

"Yes!"

Naruto chuckled, "You don't wanna be like Pervy Sage at all, trust me. This guy is a scatterbrain, pervert, and overly dramatic. You don't want to even know the rest."

"Like you're one to talk. You're just as much as a pervert and dramatic as I am, Naruto." Jiraiya retaliated.

"Nuh uh! I'm not the one who writes all those dirty books!"

Jiraiya glared at Naruto, "They're not dirty! They're just something to arouse a man's imagination."

"Heh, whatever you say."

Nia became suspicious after seeing the bond that teacher and student shared. It made her slightly jealous.

 _Even Samoi and I aren't very close like those two are and she's been my sensei for years._

"What I meant by being like you Sensei is that I also wanna be known across the five great nations as a accomplished novelist! I wanna be as great of a writer as you are one day!" Nia told the truth.

Jiraiya seemed flustered.

"I see!"

He then began to laugh obnoxiously with his hands on his hips while his back pushed backward.

Naruto sweat dropped.

 _Great... He'll probably be in this mood all day since this is the first time someone other than a few adults actually like the books that he writes._

"So err... Which Makeout series book do you like the most?" Naruto whispered to Nia.

"Actually, I hate all his Makeout books." Nia answered loudly.

Jiraiya immediately stopped laughing like an idiot.

"I bet the only reason you don't read is because you're so young. You don't even look as old as Naruto here. I take it you're about fifteen at most."

Nia sweat dropped, "I really look that young to you?"

Naruto and Jiraiya nod.

"I'll be seventeen this October. More specifically, on the tenth." Naruto said.

"I guess that means I'm older than you by atleast two weeks." Nia smiled, "My birthday is towards the end of September."

"Eh? September?" Naruto replied,

 _Wait, I think Shikamaru and Ino have birthdays in the same month as her.._.

Jiraiya smiled at the blonde boy.

 _You would've been born on the tenth of September if Kushina weren't a jinchuuriki. Her pregnancy lasted roughly ten whole months!_

"Anyways, as I said earlier, I'm not into perverted books like the Makeout series. My favorite book is the _Tales Of A Gutsy Ninja._ That one is incredibly amazing." Nia got back into topic.

"What?" Naruto tilts his head, "What's that about? I thought Pervy Sage made only those Makeout books."

"Uh uh, he wrote that one too." Nia pointed at the book in Jiraya's hand.

Naruto took a closer look at it then laughed, "Wait! That's the book that didn't sale! Ahahaha!"

"Why you..." Jiraiya's face scrunched up.

"Huh? Not one?" Nia asked with a confused look.

"Of course they sold!" Jiraiya quickly attempted to reassure the young girl, "In fact, lots of people own my book."

"Stop lyi-"

Jiraiya threw his hand over Naruto's mouth to keep him quiet.

"That's wonderful! I knew you were awesome, Master!"

Jiraiya removed his hand away from Naruto's mouth and became serious.

"I'm sorry... But you shouldn't refer to me as your master." He locks eyes with the girl in front of him.

"W-What do you mean?"

"I can't take you in as my pupil. I can't just let anybody be student just cause they asked."

Nia's disappointment clearly showed.

"But that boy right there... He's your student, isn't he? So why does he get to be one?!"

"Naruto is a very special and rare case. I'm his master because it's what I was meant to be."

"But maybe you're meant to be my master too!"

Naruto saw the look of desperation in the girl's eyes. This wasn't some kind of practical joke. She wanted to be the old man's pupil for real.

"Please..." She slowly became upset.

"Why do you want me to be your teacher so badly, huh?" Jiraiya questioned.

"I prefer not to answer right now! It's too personal!"

The long-haired male sighed, "You know what? I'll give you a chance to prove yourself worthy without using words."

He then pushed Naruto towards Nia.

"If you can come close to beating Naruto in a fight then I'll consider being your master." The sannin said.

"DEAL!" Nia grinned widely.

 _Yes! Yes! Yeees! This is my chance to PROVE that I'm worthy of being something awesome!_

"HUH?!" Naruto's face dropped, "I didn't sign up for this!"

"Well I just made you." Jiraiya crossed his arms, "Don't tell me you're afraid of hitting a girl..."

"Of course I am! I don't want to hurt her if she's not my enemy."

"She is now."

Naruto looked to see Nia cracking her knuckles and stretching. He groaned but decided to spar with the girl.

 _Fiiine... I'll do it._

He walked up to her and made a pose with his eyes closed.

"Hey!" Naruto called while being confident at who he thought would be the victor.

"Just to make sure you understand: I don't like to hold back! I'm giving it my all, Curly Brow!"

Nia frowned at Naruto's little nickname for her.

 _I told him my name is Nia... Why is he still calling me Curly Brow? That's rude!_

"If you say you you're giving it your all, then I guess i'll have to do the same... Whisker Cheeks."

Naruto dropped out of his confident stance and turned read as a tomato, "The name is Naruto! Learn to use it!"

Jiraiya shook his head.

 _Oh brother... Talk about double standards. This better be a battle to remember or else I'm gonna have to sneak off to see some more beautiful women. Oh wait... Naruto still has to show me his best yet performance of his sexy jutsu... Maybe I'll stay just a while longer hehe._

The Hidden Leaf was having yet another peaceful day. Due to the talk Sakura's friends had with her, she was atleast now able to be outside. The pain of losing Sasuke still lingered in her heart but now she was fighting to keep it from depriving her of happiness and peace.

She sauntered through the streets looking for a certain artist.

Geesh, where could Sai be? I've been all over the village now.

Sakura wore a red top with a white circle on the back over a tan shirt with short sleeves. A blue pencil skirt and black long high heeled sandals were also part of her outfit. She did not wear her headband and black gloves.

"Sakura, there you are."

The kunoichi turned around to see the man she was looking for.

"Sai!" She ran up to her comrade, "Where in the heck were you? I was looking all over for you."

"Oh, I was getting some new books to read at the library." The black-haired male smiled, "Why were you looking for me."

"I had to tell you that Naruto took off on a journey. I don't think he'll be back for some time."

"Naruto did? How long will he be gone for?"

Sakura nodded to answer Sai's first question then said, "I don't know. For all we know, he'll be gone for a month or more."

"I see..." Said Sai before walking passed his female teammate.

"Hey! Where you going, Sai? Don't you care at all that Naruto's gone?!"

"Hmm?" Sai stopped and turned around to see concern in Sakura's expression.

 _I don't care at all that Naruto's gone... But am I supposed to?_

In the bag that Sai carried, he took out a book that he checked out while visiting the library and searched the contents on the first page that could help him with the situation he was in.

 _Hmm... Oh, here it is: When a friend leaves what should you do? That is on page 48._

The artist flipped the pages on his book while Sakura crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Finally Sai found what he was looking for.

' _When a friend takes off without notifying where they are headed to, you should feel sad.'_ He read in his mind _, 'If you're dealing with someone else grieving the loss of their friend, then you should lightly put your hand on their shoulder and tell them that their friend is in a better place. After that, tightly grasp their shoulder then walk away.'_

Sai, with new determination to comfort Sakura, he creepily walks up to her.

"Sai?! What are you-"

"Sakura, Naruto is in a better place now... " Sai then squeezed Sakura's shoulder roughly. He finished by calling her, "Mutt!"

Sakura's blood boiled with rage. She glared at Sai.

"MUTT HUH?!" She cracked her knuckles and approached her victim.

"That's right." Sai nodded.

"SHANNAROOO!"

Bam!

Sakura's furious fist connected to Sai's cheek. He went flying straight into the air. A white spark of light appeared in the sky soon after.

"That'll teach you not to call me a mutt!" Steam pushed out of Sakura's face.

She folded her arms then frowned. Suddenly, she remembered the first thing her comrade had said.

' _Hold on... Did he just say to me that Naruto is in a better place...?'_

 _ **A/N: OMG THAT WAS SOO FUN TO WRITE! I like these characters lol. They're so interesting to write about :) hope you guys liked this. Pls comment before ya go and thx for reading! Also, if you wish to read ahead, this story is also published and COMPLETED on Wattpad under my username: JanaeH**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Nia Attacks!**

No one made a move. Naruto and Nia just stared at one another while Jiraiya waited patiently for their battle to begin.

Though she didn't want to admit it, Nia felt shaken up. Her confidence in her abilities wasn't very high; She was unsure of herself. To her, if she couldn't master ninjutsu, that means the opponent automatically wins the match if they are able to skillfully use it themselves.

 _'Man... Can I really do this? This guy is already Jiraiya-sensei's student. What makes me think I can beat him? I barely know how to walk on water and trees for goodness sake!'_ She thought nervously to herself.

"If you're not gonna make the first move then I will!" Naruto made a clone sign, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Five replicas of himself spawned beside him. At once, they all charged. Nia felt surprised but knew that shadow clones can usually be taken out with one hit.

One threw a hook; Nia swifted left then swung back around with a strong kick. It landed a hit and that clone proofed into smoke. Another appeared from behind with a kick. Nia grabbed it's foot, spun it around and threw it towards the last couple clones. They all vanished.

Jiraiya watched it all.

 _Alright. Not bad, but shadow clones are usually easy to defeat yet they're usually used to distract the opponent from the real attacker._

"Hya!" Naruto came speeding downwards from the sky with a balled fist.

Nia heard his grunt and successfully managed to backflip out of the way. Naruto stopped his fist from hitting the ground and looked at Nia a bit dumbstruck.

"How did you know I was attacking from upwards?"

Nia knew the answer to his question but didn't want him to avoid doing what he did. Maybe he would keep doing that.

"Hey, are you even listening to me!?" Naruto yelled.

"She was able to dodge you so easily cause you grunted loudly before you attacked. If you hadn't done that, you would've got her." Jiraiya corrected Naruto of his mistake.

Nia furrowed her eyebrows.

 _Damn, why did he have to go and tell him that? Ugh... What do I do now? This sucks so bad._

Naruto chuckled, "I see... Thanks, Pervy Sage."

He then stood with confidence.

 _This is gonna be quick! I'll just use rasengan and bam! It'll be all over for her._

Naruto looked at his opponent and noticed something strange. Nia's hand were slightly trembling along with her knees. Her stance wasn't exactly straight like his own and her eyes seemed to have no reassurance.

 _Is she-_

"Curly Brow! Are-"

"It's Nia!" Nia growled.

"Nia." Naruto corrected himself, "You sure you wanna continue this match? You don't seem so confident in yourself."

Nia scoffed, "Of course. I'm not afraid to fight you."

Naruto stared at the kunoichi then nodded, "Alright... If that's what you say."

Nia had no choice but to try her best and defeat the blonde with her taijutsu. This was the only thing she felt was her greatest strength. Her speed was remarkable but clearly not as great as the Raikage's.

At once, Nia pushed her feet off the ground. Naruto's eyes widened when he realized Nia's movements became a blur. She connected a fist to Naruto's cheek. It was so powerful, the genin flew several yards back all while slamming through a few trees before roughly tumbling to a stop on the ground.

 _'What the hell?!_ ' Jiraiya uncrossed his arms after witnessing the strength of Nia, ' _That looked like a punch Tsunade would throw...'_

He narrowed his eyes at the girl in suspicion.

 _Who is this girl? Her last name is the same as Iruka's but his clan isn't known for incredible strength._

Nia stood straighter once she saw the destruction of trees in front of her and her opponent laying faced down on the ground. It brought her a sense if reassurance.

 _Dang... Did I overdo it on that punch? I don't think I killed him or anything... He should be able to recover from it._

Naruto clutched the dirt.

"WOAH! What the hell was that?! It feels like Sakura just knocked me out."

The ninja slowly climbed to his feet and brushed the dirt off his clothing and face. He noticed Nia gawking at him.

"What's with that look, huh?! Don't think you won just from that one punch! It'll take an infinite amount of them to take me down!" Naruto hollered while placing his thumb to his chest.

Nia nodded. Naruto returned to his stance.

 _Still..._ He thought, _That attack came out of nowhere! I barely had enough time to dodge it! If I keep getting hit like that, I'll end up with bandages all over me in no time. So how then? How can I creep up on her- wait I'll just have to use my shadow clones again!_

Again Naruto makes a sign and this time, more than fifty of his clones were spawned. Nia's eyes nearly came out of  
Its sockets.

 _How the heck did he do that?! I've never seen so many of them!_

"Surprised?" All the clones ask at once, "Not to brag or anything, but I can make over a thousand of me, ya know!"

"What?! No one can make that many clones! Not even a kage!" Nia responded with utter awe.

Jiraya laughed, "It's true; Naruto really can produce tons of clones without much difficulty. He really does have an enormous amount of chakra."

"But how is that possible...?"

 _WAIT!_

Nia bit her lip.

 _That's right. He's a jinchuuriki like Bee. No wonder he can do that. But that's still strange... I've never seen Uncle Bee do that before._

"You're producing those shadow clones with your own chakra, aren't you?!"

"Of course I am!" The shadow clones responded.

They all then charged at once like last time, "HAAAAAA!"

 _'Here they come. I'll meet them halfway!'_ Nia sprinted towards the clones with her arms behind her.

Nearing close range, Nia dug through her weapon pouch and took out several kunai and shuriken and aimed it at all the Narutos'. Many vanished but over half of them were still approaching.

Confident about dwindling the number of clones further after feeling a certain item in her pouch, Nia jumped high into the air over the clones, performed a front flip, then threw a smoke bomb below her.

Jiraiya was impressed by this move and made a comment that Nia is quite smart for catching Naruto off guard like she did.

Meanwhile, the real Naruto got caught in the smoke along with his clones.

' _Damn! She's using the smoke to blur my vision. I'll just have to jump out of here!_

Just then, a lightbulb lit up over the genin' s head. He had an idea.

"Hey you!" Naruto grabs a clone's arm. He pulled him closer and whispered something in his ear.

"Of course! That's it. Good plan!" The clone agreed to what his real self told him.

Nia stood on top of a tree branch waiting for a certain someone. Before she even stood there, she spent some time making only one clone but with difficulty. It was perhaps the only form of ninjutsu she could do. Her clone joined in the battle with Naruto's and did work.

Suddenly, Nia spots Naruto bounce out the smoke. She smiled and dashed right towards him and smacked him in the face.

"Got him!" She grins widely.

Poof!

Naruto disappeared. Nia's eyes looked as if she had seen a ghost.

N-No way! T-That wasn't-

A sound resembling wind spiraling entered the girl's ears.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto screamed as he approached from behind.

Nia looked back in shock.

 _NOOO! Damn it! Why didn't I see that coming?!_

Immediately an idea came to her as well. The two were in midair but Nia was falling while Naruto seemed to be getting higher to her. If it wasn't for this advantage, the sixteen-year-old would've been done for. All she had to do was make a simple move.

She jabbed a small kick to Naruto's right arm that held his powerful move. The sudden pain the blue-eyed male felt dispersed his rasengan. Nia sighed in relief when she dropped to the ground.

"I can't believe my taijutsu and quick thinking is actually helping me right now! Unbelievable."

Jiraiya placed a hand on his hand.

 _Impressive... She used the gravity to her advantage and kicked Naruto's arm to keep him from using the rasengan against her._

Naruto groaned once landing. Two of his clones appeared to his side.

 _Man, her one clone took out most of mine? Geez... And she made me lose my rasengan..._

He rubbed his arm then placed it back to his side.

"This is embarrassing... Pervy Sage is watching me, but I'm here losing..."

Naruto then noted on something.

 _That's right... Every time I impact her in hand-to-hand combat, she always keeps beating me. However, every time I use ninjutsu, she seems startled and worried. Could taijutsu be her strength while ninjutsu isn't?_

Naruto cracked his knuckles.

 _I guess there's one way to find out! I'll have to attack her head on and test her taijutsu then back away and test her ninjutsu. After that, I'll know how to properly attack her and win this fight. Okay! Here goes nothing._

Naruto sprinted forward and took out a kunai while his shadow clones followed him. Nia stood where she was and also took a kunai out after seeing her opponent with one. This was going to be a close range battle. One that she specializes in.

Naruto made the first move and clashed his weapon against Nia's. His two clones appeared from her side and aimed a fist to her head. Nia dropped low and allowed the clones to eliminate eachother. She then twirled her leg around and slid it behind the original's foot causing him to trip. He caught his balance by backflipping.

The Konoha ninja wasted no time in slamming his foot up against his opponents chin. Nia flew upwards with Naruto gave chase. He flipped and rammed his feet against Nia's stomach. She crashed to the ground as debris scattered about.

Naruto floated downwards.

He saw Nia stand up with an angry expression.

"Uh oh, was that too much?"

"I'm not gonna lose my chance at becoming Jiraiya-sensei's pupil no matter what!" Nia then pointed her finger at Naruto, "I'm going to beat you or Atleast get close to beating you up so I won't have to go back to my village!"

With a new found determination, Nia ran to her opponent and the two engage in hand-to-hand combat. She threw a punch but Naruto grabbed her wrist. He then used his other arm to hit her face, but Nia dodged it. They break away from one another then fight once more; Each jabbing punches and kicks from all angles and blocking and dodging each one. It wasn't until Naruto made an error on his movement that Nia found his stomach to be wide open.

With enough strength, she blows a punch and Naruto is once more tumbling backwards. However, it wasn't as much as the first time.

He quickly recovered.

 _So, she is very skilled in taijutsu... Now! Let's see if you're any good in ninjutsu!_

Naruto begins to run but then stops...

 _Hold on..._

He thought of the way Sakura and most of the kunoichi dreamily stare at very handsome men.

 _Yeah... That might work even better than my other idea._

Naruto forms a hand seal.

"Sexy jutsu!"

Clouds form around a very beautiful woman with long blonde hair and nice curves. Jiraiya sees Naruto's transformation and blood shoots out his nose.

Nia's shoulders lowered as she saw the disturbing sight in front of her.

"What... The hell?!"

Naruto snickered.

 _'It's working! She's totally drooling.'_

"Come to Papa, Sweet thing!" Naruto suddenly sees Jiraiya running towards him with the most perverted look he's ever seen.

Jiraiya hugs the female Naruto and rubs his cheek against hers.

"P-Pervy Sage?! Get off me, you're not into men!" Naruto struggles to push his master off him; Not realizing he turned into a female instead of a male.

"You are about the cutest thing I've ever seen! Why don't we head to my place and-"

"GYAH!" Naruto got creeped out and slammed his fist into Jiraiya's stomach, causing the man to double over.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" The young male reverts to his original form.

"You were so beautiful. Turn back to that girl right now!" Jiraiya responded.

"Girl?!"

"Don't ever do that again! YUCK!" Naruto heard Nia's voice from a distance.

He laughed, "Oh! I must've used sexy jutsu by accident. Sorry bout hitting you Pervy Sage. I didn't know that."

Nia irritated, impatiently dashed towards her opponent.

"I'm tired of waiting around watching you do dumb things! Let's finish this!"

Naruto smirked, "That's fine by me."

He then used the proper hand sign then said, "Sexy reverse harem jutsu!"

A cloud of smoke appeared as a very handsome brown-haired man with brown eyes came out from it with only a towel around his waist. His muscles were big but not too big and he was cleanly shaven. Nia made a complete stop and was paralyzed by the presence of the man.

Naruto smiled and cupped her chin then stroked her cheek.

 _All right! Looks like I got Curly Brow in a daze! Women are almost as easy to fool than men are._

Nia's pupils constricted. Naruto noticed this.

 _Huh! What's that look she's giving me?_

Like earlier, Nia's hands and knees trembled but this time she also bit her lip and tears seemed to form in her eyes. She looked too scared to move.

Seconds later, her tears fell from her eyes and Naruto immediately reverted to his original form.

"Cur- I mean Nia, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"S-Stay away from me!" She fell to her knees and grabbed her head.

"Huh? I don't get it. What did I-"

"Leave me alone!" She sobbed then covered her ears with her hands as best as she could. "I don't wanna hear your insults anymore!"

"Insults?!" Naruto repeated, "I didn't say anything like that to you."

Jiraiya, who regained his composure, accompanied his student.

"What's going on here?" He asked.

"I- I don't know... She saw my sexy reverse harem jutsu and totally went bonkers." Naruto answered truthfully, "Maybe the guy wasn't her type...?"

"No that's not it. She probably got worked up because of the fact that she saw a... Handsome man. It made her extremely insecure most likely."

"What? What do you mean?"

Jiraiya groaned, "Naruto, she's ridiculed for her looks, remember? It must've been very good-looking men who shunned her the most perhaps. Men can be like that you know. It happens all the time. We can't help but be nice to the pretty ones and cruel to the... Not so good-looking ones."

"I get that but why be so cruel? She didn't do anything to them?!"

Jiraya sighed, "Perhaps you're too kind to do that but still... If a woman isn't pretty, men won't go after her even if she's kind-hearted. Looks are first then maybe personality. Although that doesn't really matter to some men."

Naruto watched Nia sobbing. She then got weak and was falling down but Naruto caught her. She closed her eyes and seemingly lost consciousness.

"Naruto... You say you like Sakura cause you think she's pretty, right?" Jiraya spoked.

Naruto realized the meaning in his words but nodded in honesty, "Yeah but we both want acknowledgement from Sasuke also! I like that about Sakura too."

"But what about her personality?"

"Personality?"

Jiraiya nodded.

"Uh well... She's uh... She gets angry easily and doesn't hesitate to punch me... Um she can be nice sometimes but usually I get scolded by her. She's very loving towards Sasuke. Eh..."

"Stop! That's all I need to hear." Jiraya said.

 _It's pretty obvious Sakura is just someone he's infatuated with. He said once that he likes her yet can't come up with reasons besides saying she's cute, and something that has to do with his own other teammate. Oh brother... Even I can come up with better reasons as to why I like Tsunade besides her bustiness and good looks._

"Naruto... Put your luggage on and carry Nia in your arms. I've decided to let her be my pupil."

"Whaaat?! Why, Pervy Sage?! You promised to teach me a awesome jutsu and I don't want anyone getting in the way of that!" Naruto threw a fit.

"You idiot! Was you blind to your own battle moments ago?" Jiraya frowned, "This girl has a clear talent for taijutsu but has a problem with ninjutsu. Her punches from the looks of it, could rival maybe even Tsunade's! She would make a great training partner for you and help you get better with you average taijutsu."

Naruto looked pensive. A training partner would be good for him. One that fights like Sakura but uses great strategies similar to Shikamaru.

"Fine." The genin places his heavy luggage on himself then lifts Nia in his arms.

Naruto wobbled a little.

"Ugh, I forgot how heavy this luggage is! Now I gotta carry a human being too!"

"Stop complaining and let's get going." Jiraiya moved forward.

Naruto looked down at Nia but then refocused on the road ahead of him.

 _I wonder if she'll really be a great sparring partner like Pervy Sage says... Maybe she will._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Progress Between Them**

In yet another small village, Jiraiya and his young students were relaxing. Well, Jiraiya went to do some research yet again while Nia and Naruto were forced into getting to know one another once the girl had regained consciousness.

They were in a small room with two futons in it; The walls were bland but the carpet was a brown tan color. Nia was sitting against the wall, writing in her diary while Naruto sat on his futon eating cupped ramen while also glancing at his new comrade every now and then.

"Whatre wu doing?" He asked with a mouth full of noodles.

"Huh?" Nia looked up, "What did you say? I couldn't understand you."

Naruto slurped his noodles then repeated, "What are you doing?"

"Oh... Nothing. It's not important."

"It sure looks important."

Nia looked down, "I don't want to talk to you right now. Please leave me alone."

"But I didn't do anything." Naruto replied as he sat down his empty cup next to him.

"I know. I just... wanna be left alone."

The blonde tilted his head then stood up, "Fine, fine. I'll just go see what Pervy Sage is up to."

The dark-haired girl gave no response as Naruto closed the door behind him. However, after he left, Nia closed her diary and brought her knees to her chest then wrapped her arms around it while touching her chin to the top of it. Her expression was pensive and reflective.

 _Jiraiya-sensei told me that he would accept me as a student yet... I still feel... Underachieved. Could it be that I see him as being more interested in teaching Naruto solely. Am I being jealous of him?_

Nia lowered her eyes.

 _Of course Jiraiya-sensei acknowledges Naruto more. I mean, he clearly met him before me so that would only make sense, right? In time, I'll be the one that he'll be impressed with. At least I hope that'll happen._

Naruto entered into the bath house and saw his master being perverted as always. He sighed and approached him.

"Pervy Sage."

"Not now, Naruto," Jiraiya gestured his hand in a swatting motion while not bothering to look behind him, "Shoo! Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Being busy and being perverted are two different things; I need to talk to you."

"Can't this wait another time?"

"Pervy Sage, why can't we just get started with my training already? It's already been nearly a week!"

With a groan, Jiraiya stopped peeping through the small hole in the wall he punctured with his nail and turned around to see his pupil in a grouchy stance with a towel around his waist.

"Has Nia recovered properly yet?" He questioned.

"She looked well. She kinda didn't want me talking to her though but-"

"If you two aren't getting along then I can't train you."

"Wait! Hold on a second!" Naruto panicked, "I never said we aren't getting along; She just refuses to talk to me for some reason. Curly Brow doesn't look mad or anything. Just slightly uhh.. I don't know..."

"Well you better get to talking or your training will be pointless for the most part. Being on good terms is a key element in partnership."

"Yeah I know but you were originally going to train me alone: Why don't you just stick with that? Curly Brow and I can just have our own private sessions with you." Naruto suggested.

Jiraiya gave it some thought then replied, "I might do that to build up your individual weaknesses, but it'll still be better to train you together. It's a whole lot easier for me that way and it'll get you stronger quicker."

Naruto crossed his arms, "Yeah..."

 _I guess I'll head back to the guest room when I'm done cleaning myself up. The more I get along with Curly Brow, the sooner Pervy Sage will get to training me._

Thirty minutes passed and now Jiraiya and Naruto were back in the guest room with Nia. The sannin occupied his time by getting prepared to write another few pages of his new Makeout Series book while Nia caught wind of this and immediately appeared by his shoulder, looking over it with sparkly eyes.

"Is that a new book?!" She asked.

"Why yes it is!" Jiraiya replied.

Nia's heart leaped with joy; She could barely contain her excitement at her sensei's announcement.

Naruto, who was sitting down with his back against the wall while also having a arm on top of his raised knee, gazed at the girl with glasses. How could someone be so interested in the dirty books Pervy Sage writes? What made Nia so drawn to them?

 _Wait, I forgot. She's not obsessed with the pervy books; Curly Brow likes the book that no one purchased._

With a raised eyebrow, Naruto crossed his legs then leaned forward, "When will you be finished with all that stuff, Pervy Sage? I don't wanna sit around doing nothing, ya know."

"Yeesh Naruto, what is with that attitude you've been having all day? Are you upset cause Nia gave you a difficult challenge not too long ago?" Jiraiya asked before he snickered.

"Of course not! I won, didn't I?" Naruto got offended, "Besides, I was holding back."

"Suuure."

Naruto looked down as he blushed in embarrassment; He really wasn't holding back too much.

"Did I really put up that much of a good fight, Jiraiya-sensei? I thought I wasn't doing too well." Nia stated.

"Ask Naruto over there if you really wanna know."

Nia faced her peer and briefly made eye contact with him before quickly turning away saying, "No thanks."

"And why's that?!" Naruto raised a fist in the air, "Am I not worthy asking?"

Jiraiya sighed, "That's it. Naruto, why don't you and Nia take a stroll outside or something? Get better acquainted with one another or whatever. I don't care how. I'll never get this work finished with you two distracting me."

"But I wanna study your writing techniques! I need to learn from the best and I can't do that if I'm out in town with someone who-"

Nia locked eyes with Naruto then looked down and whispered to Jiraiya, "I don't wanna be left alone with someone who'll make me feel... Feel... down about myself."

"What was that?! Try speaking louder!" Naruto demanded after seeing the whole secret talk between the two others in the room.

Nia backed up a little with fright written in her expression; She squeezed her hands together and stayed staring at the floor.

Naruto settled down and gawked at the strangely behaved girl.

 _What's up with her now?_

"Ughh," Groaned Jiraiya, "Naruto, you said you want me to train you as soon as possible right? Get to stepping outside while I talk to Nia for a sec, okay?"

"I guess." The blonde stood up and walked out the room with his hands in his pockets.

Upon leaving, Naruto wanted to eavesdrop and so, made a clone of himself and had it make creaking noises as if to tell his master and Nia he left when he actually didn't; He put his ear to the door softly.

Inside the room, Jiraiya put his ink down and turned to face Nia.

"Listen, you don't have to be all curled into a ball whenever Naruto is here. He's a knucklehead, sure... and can be a bit inconsiderate at times but-"

"But I'm just not comfortable with... men my age or around it." Nia tensed up, "I get... Insecure whenever I'm by one and I just don't know how to respond without ignoring the guy or avoiding him."

"I didn't get to finish: I'm saying that as a growing kunoichi, you shouldn't allow anyone to tear you down emotionally and/or mentally. Being strong and not caring how others perceive you is a very crucial part of being a kunoichi and a ninja too. You must endure till the very end." Jiraiya flawlessly shared.

The girl in glasses looked down. However, she did understand what her new master was saying.

"Thanks, Jiraiya-sensei. I'll keep those words in my heart; I knew you were a good person. There's no way someone who wrote _Tales Of A Gutsy Ninja_ , could possibly be a horrible, selfish person; Its just unthinkable!"

Outside the door, Naruto bangs shaded over his eyes.

 _I see... I keep forgetting about what people say to her that brings her down. No wonder why she's so hesitant, uncomfortable, awkward, and tense near me; She thinks I'll treat her the same._

Naruto listened in a little more before Jiraiya told Nia to catch up with the genin. He quickly maneuver himself out the building he was in and acted to be waiting for his new training partner to step outside after getting rid of his clone.

 _'Curly Brow just needs a friend; Someone who'll accept her for who she is.'_ He thought just as he heard footsteps approaching his location.

His gaze moved to the left of him and observed as Nia walked with her head down, not bothering to even look at him.

She dragged her feet, subtly rubbing her hands in front of her while thinking:

 _This is it; Time for me to question my existence all over again... Ugh, I bet he'll glare at me the second I look at him. The moment he does that, I'm outta here. I'll just try and sneak my way back to the guest room and read whatever Jiraiya-sensei wrote down on his paper._

Seeing the black sandals and orange pants just a few feet away, Nia holds in her breath.

 _Alright, this is it for real this time! I should probably put something in my ears so I don't have to hear wh-_

"Hey Nia, you actually decided to hang out! Awesome."

"Hm?"

The kunoichi brought her sight upwards. Naruto flashed a teethy grin and held a friendly hand up as a greeting to her while having his right hand still in his pocket. The pose gave off a very friendly vibe and seeing it involuntarily made Nia's cheeks tinge with pink.

 _His greeting..._

Just this alone, though it wasn't very much, was perhaps the nicest approach someone has given to the timid girl in a while. However, just cause Naruto gave one friendly wave didn't mean she was going to let her guard down; She remained cautious.

"Hi..." Nia greeted awkwardly, "Um-"

"Hey," Naruto gently slapped Nia's upper back causing her to straighten up out of uneasiness, "No need to be all anxious. Let's just try and get better acquainted, 'kay?"

"Uh yeah... Sure." The girl nodded.

 _I hope he doesn't touch me like that again; My skin nearly detached from my body._

The sky was dark with stars decorating across it. The moon was in its quarter stage and the buildings were all lighted up and also had a crowd of people walking out and in from them. Despite this, the area was a bit quieter and peaceful than the last village Nia and Naruto were in.

The two genin were relatively quiet and didn't speak much for the first few minutes. A few mumbling here and there but nothing major. Naruto was mainly the one putting effort into trying to make Nia comfortable around him but his kind attempts didn't seem to buy the girl's acknowledgement.

He sighed softly as he thought of other ways to get the girl to speak a bit more.

 _This is harder than I thought it would be. She seems paranoid and distracted with seeing if anyone is either looking or talking about her; its easy to observe that._

Naruto glanced at Nia and received a curious, suspicious look from her; He smiled anyway and her gaze went to her feet.

 _It kinda feels like I'm walking with Hinata right now... Except, she actually smiles when talking to me... At least, I'm pretty sure she does..._

Naruto placed a finger around his chin and thought about his friend and comrade at home.

 _I hope Hinata gave Sakura the message I told her to say. Wait! Of course Hinata told her. There's no way she would ever let me down with a small favor like that one._

Distracted by his own thoughts, Naruto did not know he was walking into the town's most troubling area. Nia didn't seem to know either as she too was distracted with thinking about how she should test Naruto's kindness with her.

Just a yard away, a group of average grown ninja with hot tempers spotted their next victim: A awkward looking girl who seemed to be incapable of defending herself. The one next to her didn't look to be anyone she knew and appeared to be a complete stranger who happened to be right there coincidentally.

"You guys know what I'm thinking?" The tallest out of the four asked.

A green-haired man with brown eyes pointed his finger at Nia and chuckled, "You mean her, right?"

The tall man nodded.

A ninja with spiky brown hair and eyes cracked his knuckles, "Okay! She seems like an easy target; She stepped into the wrong territory. Tch, almost feel bad for the runt."

"I say we get violent. I can't stand looking at a girl like her." The fourth man with long brown hair and black eyes stepped toward his target. He stroked his beard and smirked as his friends followed suit; Out of the whole group, he was the most muscular.

They waited for Naruto to pass by then circled around Nia; She looked at the threatening faces around her. The looks they gave her pierced her heart in a hurtful fashion.

"Ah, don't look down, little lady." The tall man spoke first as he cupped the girl's chin; She smacked it away and attempted to peacefully get out of the circle.

This time, the spiky-haired man got in her way.

"I don't think so," He said, "You think you're qualified to enter into our territory? Sorry to say, but we don't let Goats through."

The other three men laughed at their friends comment. Nia's insecurity made her bring her hands over her face; True she could just send the men flying with a punch, but these particular situations left her stiff and frightened to stand up for herself.

"You don't gotta hide your face," The ninja with green hair brought Nia's hands away from her, "We just wanna help you know what you look like to everyone."

He then yanked the teen's glasses off her.

"N-No! I can't see clearly without that. P-Please give it back." She reached forward but the man threw it somewhere behind him as all four men insulted and laughed at her.

The cruel laughter stiffened Nia's movements and she brought her hands to her ears and her body repeatedly fidgeted; She closed her eyes tightly.

Unfortunately for the men, the glasses ended up dropping right in front of Naruto, who hadn't notice that him and Nia had been separated thanks to his own wandering mind. He crouched and picked them up.

 _Wait... This looks like..._

He looked behind him and saw Nia wasn't following. He stood up.

 _Damn! I lost her!_

Multiple people were bumping into the blonde and it was hard for him to get around them gently.

"Curly Brow!" He shouted, "Curly Brow, where are you?!"

The strong man in the group, grabbed roughly at Nia's hair; She groaned.

"Hmph! Not even your hair is decent!"

Nia stayed trembling, "I... Just please... Please let me go..."

The man spitted on her face just as Naruto finally spotted his partner.

 _Curly Brow!_

"Now you can use that to make your face less disgusting." Said the leader.

"HEY!" Naruto stormed in and threw the man's hand out of Nia's hair, "Leave her alone! Don't touch her!"

"Hey look!" The tallest man smirked, "It's the dude that was by her earlier."

"The name is Naruto Uzumaki, Jerks!" The genin introduced himself as he stood in front of Nia with an arm out in front of her in a protecting matter.

The voice of Jiraiya's pupil managed to reach through Nia's ears; She opened her eyes and was completely flabbergasted that Naruto was actually standing in front of her as if to defend her from the four men.

"We don't care who you are, kid. Our business is not with you." The leader responded to Naruto's actions.

"It is now!" Naruto fearlessly barked.

"Do you really want a beat down that much?!"

"I'll have you all kissing the dirt after I'm finished whopping your butts, ya know! Don't underestimate me."

"That does it! Men attack!" The leader demanded.

All four ninja charged right at Naruto. The skilled ninja swiftly dodged their attacks and kicked the green-haired man in the gut hard then threw his elbow down on his neck to make sure he would be knocked out. The first man dropped defeated and the tall man and the spiky-haired ninjas, attempted to jab Naruto in the face soon after, but the jinchuuriki jumped into the air and allowed the two men to bring eachother down. In a blink of an eye, Naruto descended and gave the man who physically harmed Nia, the muscular guy, a hard boot square to the face before he had time to react; He fell backwards with a large imprint of Naruto's sandal impression on his face.

"That was for spitting on Curly Brow's face!" Naruto mentioned as he dusted his hands off even though there was nothing on them.

He took the glasses he found out his pocket and turned to Nia. Using his own sleeve, he carefully wiped off the spit on the girl's face then placed her glasses back on her.

Nia's blurred vision returned to normal and she saw Naruto giving her a sheepish grin. His face was close to hers and he had his hands on her shoulders.

"You're alright now! Nobody will dare mess with you again! Not while I'm here!"

Like earlier, a pink tinge marked Nia's cheek. Someone really defended her. Someone actually stood up to beat down her bullies. The irony was the fact that it was a male of all people! A male was the very last person she thought would stand up for her.

Nia was so tongue-tied, she couldn't properly thank her rescuer without mumbling. Thankfully, Naruto catched her words and placed his arms behind his head, still wearing a grin on his face.

Involuntarily and without realizing it, a small smile spread across Nia's face. What Naruto did for her was definitely on par with Jiraiya's acceptance on making her his student in terms of kindness. Maybe Naruto wasn't a bad person after all... Maybe she was quick to judge him without getting to know him first. Maybe... she grew a new found respect for the younger boy.

She took a moment to calm herself.

 _That... was so nice..._

"You're not as irritating as I thought you might turn out to be, Whisker Cheeks... I'll talk to you now." Nia expressed with slow speed.

"Why do you still gotta call me that?! It's Naruto for the last time."

"And my name is Nia but you keep calling me Curly Brow; So stop bring so double standard."

Naruto sighed.

 _This is what I get for saving you...? Oh well._

"Let's get out of this area; It's pretty dangerous here." Naruto began to walk forward with his hands still behind his head.

Nia turned and followed him, "Kay, Mr. Whiskers."

"Curly Brooow," Whined Naruto, "I'm not some kitty cat, ya know. The name is Naruto Uzumaki."

"I know that but I'm still gonna call you that till you use my name properly." The older girl stated.

Naruto sweat dropped as Nia giggled.

 _'Maybe I should use her name; I hate Mr. Whiskers and Whisker Cheeks as some sort of nickname._ ' He thought.

Though she was still shaken up from the recent events, Nia now felt a bit more safe around Naruto after witnessing what he did. Though being friends with him wasn't what she really wanted, she still gathered enough respect for him to reply after each time he spoke to her.

The night was still fresh and Naruto knew that more progress would have to be made so that Jiraiya could get to training him; He continued using his time to spend with who he considered a potential, if not, already friend.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: An Awkward Moment**

"Stay close, Nia; I can't keep you out of my sight again." Naruto advised the girl following close behind him, "You'll probably get into trouble again."

"So you're actually gonna use my name now?" Nia replied as she quickened her pace to Naruto's; They were now side to side.

"Er yeah... I don't like the sound of Whisker Cheeks." Naruto said.

"I think it fits you."

"It does not."

"Yes it does," Nia giggled before poking a mark on Naruto's face, "Don't deny it."

"Oh yeah? What about your weird eyebrow?" Naruto smiled as he touched the girl's left brow, "Curly Brow fits you just as much as Whisker cheeks fits me, ya know?"

"You say that a lot, huh?"

"Hm?" Naruto blinked, "Say what a lot?"

"Ya know." Nia answered, "I don't really even know you but you keep saying that in almost every single sentence you say."

"What! I don't always say that, ya know!"

Nia bursted out laughing, "You just said it!"

Naruto realized what he said then looked away embarrassed.

In front of the two, a store with various sweets had catched Nia's attention. She ran off ahead of Naruto and stared at the section with different kinds of cookies.

Chocolate chip, M&m flavor, oatmeal; They were all her favorites.

Naruto caught up to Nia and smiled slightly when he saw her eyes twinkle.

' _She's practically drooling over those things.'_ He laughed quietly inside.

"I would like the chocolate chip and M&m ones please." The girl made an order to the cater.

"That'll be a dollar." He said.

"Just one? That's cheap." Nia smiled as she dug through her pockets for her wallet.

Seconds passed to a minute.

"Eh?!" She couldn't feel anything, "What the heck! Where is it?"

Frantically, she searched every single pocket in and out her clothing.

"No! Where the heck is it?! I thought it was just in here!"

A sudden memory paused her actions. Back in the guest room where her sensei is, she left her bag beside the wall. It contained her money in there. Nia groaned and dramatically slumped her head and shoulders; She sulked about not being able to have her most craved treat.

Naruto saw the disappointment she showed and thought of himself when it came to him not having money to buy ramen from Ichiraku in the Hidden Leaf.

"I guess I have no choice." He said as he dug into his pocket and took out his green frog wallet then opened it and took a bill out even though it would bring him down to three measly dollars, "Here's a dollar."

Nia looked up to see the kindness Naruto once more displayed and the few dollars he had left in his wallet. The cater grabbed a napkin and placed the two cookies in a bag then handed it to Naruto, who then generously gave it to Nia.

"Here ya go." He said softly, "For you."

Nia's mouth watered and she immediately snatched the bag from Naruto.

"Thank you!" She squealed.

"Uh sure, no problem." Naruto smiled somewhat as he looked at the bag in Nia's grasp.

The two continue to walk in a random direction. Nia took out the M&m cookie; her favorite out of the two she had. She placed it near her mouth but looked at Naruto walking next to her. He was staring ahead and didn't really have any expression on his face.

 _'He's been really nice to me since we've been out here...'_ Nia thought as she glanced at her cookie, _'He's low on cash yet bought the two cookies for me since I don't have my money on me... I can't just-"_

"Here." The dark-haired girl holded her favorite treat in Naruto's face.

"Eh?" He looked confused, "What is it?"

"You wasted your money on something so small; You can have this cookie as a thank you gift." Nia answered gently.

Naruto rubbed his head, "Oh, you don't gotta thank me; Keep it."

"No." Nia refused and popped the treat in Naruto's mouth forcefully yet gently.

He sweatdropped.

"There you go." Nia leaned forward with a smile, "Doesn't it taste good? That's my favorite flavor!"

"It's alwight." Naruto said with his mouth open as he chewed, "I would rather have ramen though."

"Ramen?" Nia raised a brow, "You mean noodles?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, ramen. I love it, ya know?"

Nia reflected her times back at the Hidden Cloud and Leaf; Ramen was the main thing she ate everyday but unlike Naruto, she was pretty much forced to eat it throughout her whole life since her parents didn't really get anything else from a market. It was cheap as well.

"Noodles is what I call it; Ramen sounds weird to me." She commented.

"So you've tried it before?"

"Yeah; I was forced to eat it practically everyday since childhood."

"It tastes awesome, right?!" Naruto practically drooled at the thought of his favorite meal.

Nia smiled and shrugged, "It's alright; The packaged ones are the best but the cupped ones are disgusting!"

Naruto's eyes widened, "No way! They're awesome! I have one whenever I get the chance."

' _I see that. You were just eating one in the guest room not too long ago when I was writing in my diary._ ' Nia silently thought.

"Anyway," The older teen continued, "When I was in your village, I used to see you in that noodle shop all the time."

"Ichiraku? Yeah, that's where the best ramen is served. It's kinda made like the packaged ramen is and served into a bowl with soup and toppings."

Nia and Naruto continued having their conversation and eventually realized that it was getting a bit too dark for them to stay out and headed back to the guest inn.

"Pervy SAAAGE!" Naruto slid open the door dramatically, "We're back!"

"I hope you two are better acquainted than before." Jiraiya said, not bothering to look behind him.

He was still writing. Crumpled paper scattered the room, some in a wastebasket. It was clear that the sannin was working diligently.

Nia pushed Naruto to the wall and rushed to Jiraya's side, once more looking over his shoulder.

"Are you finished with a chapter?!" She saw the words written on his paper.

"Not just one, but a few!"

Nia grinned widely, "Can I read it?! Please let me!"

"Hm, you are underage, but it's not like I wrote anything too extreme yet; I guess you can take a look." Jiraiya handed his work to Nia, who nearly screamed her head off.

Finally she was holding the draft to one of Jiraya's own writings! It was a dream! Nothing could beat this moment she was experiencing right now.

"I hope shoving me out your way won't turn into a habit." Naruto rubbed his throbbing cheek as he approached Nia. Being pushed again by her was annoying.

However, Nia was so occupied, she didn't notice anything or anyone around her. Naruto frowned.

 _I thought she said Pervy Sage's books are dirty and not sophisticated or whatever. But look at her now... reading away at the thing._

"You know Naruto, maybe you can read it right after Nia does and get a looksy at my book before anyone else." Jiraiya had stood up and nudge Naruto on the arm.

"No way! I already told you I'm not some sleazy pervert like you."

Jiraiya was annoyed but shrugged, "Your lost."

Naruto made a sarcastic comment then yawned. He was worn out with all the drama from today alone. A nights sleep would definitely do him good. His stomach growled. Maybe food would be better right now instead?

Naruto dug through his bag and grabbed three cupped ramen. A pot and small stove were in the room. The ninja turned it on and poured water into the light blue pot.

Several minutes later, he finished making his meals and handed a cup to his master and extended his left hand down toward Nia who had recently changed into a black robe and was now sitting and admiring Jiraiya's work.

"Hellooo?" Naruto waved the ramen cup in Nia's face.

She took her eyes off the paper she was reading and looked up.

"It's always bad to go to bed with a empty stomach. So here; Eat up."

"I don't like that." The girl replied.

Naruto thought back to their conversation while they were outside earlier, "Oh yeah... Well, can't you at least try eating this? It's already made."

"No." Nia pushed the cup away from her.

Naruto pushed it forward again; Nia pushed it away. They did this a few more times before Naruto lost his patience.

"Quit being so picky and just eat it!"

"I don't want to!" Nia shoved the cup back at the blonde.

Naruto groaned and turned away, giving Nia an annoyed look as he did.

"Be hungry then." He said.

Nia rolled her eyes, "I have my own food so you don't have to worry about me anyway."

The girl dug through her bag and took out some homemade orange chicken in a container. A pair of chopsticks was in her bag also so she took it out too.

"That doesn't seem like it'll be warm." Naruto commented.

"So. Anything is better than that nasty noodle cup." Nia replied.

"It's not nasty!" Naruto barked.

"It's disgusting. No offense."

"You haven't even tried my way of making it."

"You don't have a special way; There is no special way to make that stuff cause all you really gotta do is pour hot water into it and let it set for a few minutes..."

"Yeah, but I stir mines and add a ingredient in it that makes it all the more delicious."

Nia raised a brow, "What ingredient?"

"Naruto." The genin male used his chopsticks to pick up a white sweet with a pink swirl on the center. He placed it inside the cup.

"Here." He held the cup to Nia's face once more.

"Okay fine." She grabbed the ramen and sighed annoyingly, "I'll give it a try..."

Naruto showed a contented smile, "This will have you wishing you could eat all the ramen cups in the world!"

"Ack! Ack!" A sudden cough erupted out of Nia after taking a mouthful of ramen.

"Woah, what's wrong? You okay?" Naruto showed his concern.

Nia caught her breath and swallowed the noodles.

"Sorry, I just placed too many noodles in my mouth at once." She said.

Naruto concern wore off, "I'm not one to talk, but maybe not consuming so much at once will help you out till you become a ramen cup professional eater like me."

"Is that so...?"

"That's right!"

Nia giggled. Naruto placed his cup down to let it cool down then announced he was going to change into a blue robe and left.

Nia waited for the guy to leave then quickly headed to the sink while Jiraiya wasn't looking and poured out most of the ramen down the drain, making sure not a single noodle could be seen.

' _I just hate cup noodles no matter what.'_ She thought as she got back to her spot, ' _However, that blonde guy is kinda nice so I should at least act like I enjoyed it.'_

A couple minutes later, Naruto exited a room and entered the space Nia and his master were in. He quickly spotted his ramen cup and sat down.

"Time to dig in!" He grabbed his chopsticks with a huge smile on his face.

"Yeah." Nia smiled as believable as she could.

' _Hopefully this cup ramen doesn't make me throw up first...'_

Before diving in, Nia gazed at the male across from her. She observed how he didn't have his headband on and how his front bangs laid down over his forehead. Naruto was just about to eat when he noticed the girl's stare.

"What is it?" He blinked.

"Oh uh, nothing." Nia mumbled her words, "It's just,,. you look different without your headband on."

"Oh." The genin replied, "I guess I notice that too at times."

Silence...

In this time, Nia realized the distance between her and her sibling student. Naruto was only sitting about three feet away; Too close for comfort. The female scoots back to lengthen the distance. Naruto didn't seem to notice as he was too busy devouring his meal.

A couple minutes later he finished and set his cup down, Nia pretended she was done too and did the same.

"That was good!"

Nia simply said nothing. The Uzumaki yawned and stretched his muscles. It was past midnight and he had grown tired. He went to grab a futon and placed it on the floor.

"I'm going to bed, Pervy Sage. When I wake up, you better teach me that new jutsu in the morning."

"Yeah yeah whatever." Jiraya flung his hand backward, "Goodnight, Naruto."

 _'Night Pervy Sage.'_ Naruto thought as he began to lay down. He then saw Nia once more reading Jiraiya's new manuscript he had typed.

He thought of a certain teacher he had while he was in the academy. A teacher who felt the same pain of having no parents and dealing with loneliness as he grew. The same man who recognized him as a person and bait a beast.

"Curly Brow..." He called.

"Hm?"

"You wouldn't happen to be related to Iruka-sensei, would you?"

"Of course im related to him. We're cousins."

Uzumaki sat up, "Whaaat?! You are?"

Nia nodded.

"You really just figured it out, Naruto?" Jiraiya joined the conversation.

"Well... I wasn't really thinking about it till now." Naruto answered.

"Iruka says he's been doing good at the Hidden Leaf. He really likes teaching the kids at the academy." Nia said.

"Yeah, he's awesome! I think of him as a cool big brother or maybe even like a... a-" Naruto paused then looked down with a embarrassed smile as he rubbed his head, "A father."

Nia blinked a few times.

' _A father? Iruka?'_

"How come?" She asked.

Naruto scratched his cheek, "Well, he was the first person to ever truly accept me when I was a pre-teen."

The sixteen-year-old thought of the time Iruka risked his life to save his and how the ninja's tears struck down on his face. It was a moment he would never forget.

Jiraiya, hearing that story from Iruka himself, smiled slightly. Nia raised a brow.

"He was the first?" She asked.

Naruto nodded, "Well yeah. Basically. I know that I was lucky enough to play with other kids like Shikamaru, Chouji, you, and that one other girl who was with you, but at the end of the day, no one was really there for me until Iruka warmed up to me."

"Oh..." Nia lowered her eyes, "S-Sorr-"

"Ah no need to apologize." Naruto reassured the girl, "We we all just kids. It's not like you had the power to disobey your parents or anything."

"Yeah, but-"

"It's fine, you know."

"..."

Naruto stared at Nia.

 _'Even though I was extremely lonely most days... At least sometimes I had a few kids to play with at the park before their guardians would take them home or away from me.'_

"Nia, thanks a ton for at least playing with me once while we were children. It meant a lot."

' _You, Shikamaru, Chouji, and that other girl.'_

"You shouldn't thank me." Nia clenched her lower robe, "Those two little boys played with you a lot more than I ever did. Heck! Even my sister played with you more."

"Huh? That other little girl was your sister?"

"Yeah. She's my younger sister and her name is Misumi. She's pretty hot-headed though now. Fifteen-years-old."

"Oh yeah." A light bulb appeared Naruto's head as he remembered the second girl, "That's right; She was the more fun one!"

A glare was shot at the blonde by Nia, "What!"

Naruto sweat-dropped and chuckled nervously, "Oh... I... Uh... Ummm..."

"You what?" The kunoichi glared slightly harder.

"Ehh... I remember you being... Um... Being the..."

' _Why can't I think of anything to describe what I thought of her...? If I don't hurry up, that cold glare is gonna kill me!'_ Uzumaki grew anxious in his thoughts.

"Wait!" He placed a closed fist on top of his open hand. He then looked at Nia smiled and said, "You were the crybaby!"

"A crybaby?!" Nia yelled, clearly disliking the adjective Naruto used.

He flinched when he realized what he said was offensive.

"I- I meant nice!" He corrected himself, "You were the most kind one!"

Immediately, Nia softened up and averted her eyes shyly in disbelief.

 _'I'm the most... kind?'_

She then smiled and awkwardly shifted her body side to side while still avoiding Naruto's confused expression.

 _'Heh... Give a girl a compliment and they'll get all weird.'_ The ninja genin thought as he looked at the reaction Nia got as soon as he had said that.

"All right, guys. That's enough of that." Jiraiya said as he placed his papers to the side of the table he was working on, "It's about 2:00 a.m; Time for some shut-eye."

"All right." Nia nodded and headed to the closet to get a futon. Jiraiya went after her.

Once she came back, she noticed Naruto was already knocked out and sleeping like a baby.

' _Geesh, he's already out of it.'_ She sweat-dropped.

"That's Naruto for ya." Jiraiya appeared to the left of his male pupil, "Always the most energetic one during the day, but the most beaten up by night."

"Well of course. Having that much energy would have you out cold quicker and longer than most people. I wouldn't be surprised if he woke up in the afternoon."

"Hm... I guess so but I also doubt it. That new jutsu will have him waking up by 10:00 am at the most."

Nia glanced at the sleeping teen, "He did seem excited about it."

"Trust me; he is." Jiraiya replied as he got comfortable on his futon, "Anyway, we'll train in the morning. Get some rest."

Nia smiled and nodded happily, "Yes!"

Since there was only a small room, Nia was forced to lay her futon to the right side of Naruto and slept there, despite being a bit uncomfortable.

The three slept happy but the hours flew by and it was long past morning. In fact, it was 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon.

"Please... J-Just one more... bowl..." A small voice spoke as Naruto slept, "Ramen... more..."

The ninja had stretched every part of his body in his sleep and accidentally slammed his hand on Nia's face. Feeling the impact, the girl became startled and quickly risen up with her arms in a guarding position.

She scanned the room and saw no one. The kunoichi lowered her guard and sighed.

' _Oh... It's no one. That scared me.'_

"S-Sakura..."

Nia looked down to her right.

"Don't be so shy..." Naruto talked in his sleep. He was dreaming of his crush.

Nia stared intently at him.

' _Oh. He has a girlfriend already...'_

She didn't notice her next action of looking down.

"I'll give... you a hug..."

Naruto subconsciously patted the futon next to his until he found something to grab onto: Nia's right wrist.

Before she could react, he pulled her against his chest then wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Sakuraaaa!" Naruto said in his sleep.

Nia, who was a victim to his strange sleeping behavior, grew extremely red with embarrassment to the point steam rises out of it. A man in his sleep had just pulled her into an embrace and wouldn't let go. Her blood pumped faster and faster and she was frozen in place.

Suddenly Naruto talked again and his lips formed the shape of someone preparing to kiss another. He lowered his lips towards the already frightened kunoichi.

 _'W-What's he doing? I-Is he going to- k-k-k-'_

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She hollered and broke free from Naruto's grasp.

The two advanced ninja then awoke out of their sleep ready to fight.

"What?!" Naruto jumped up and got into a stance, "Who the hell is here?!"

Jiraiya didn't stand up but looked around very closely. Once the two realized there was no danger, they relaxed.

Naruto, however, noticed Nia backed up against the wall with her hand over her heart. Her face was still red.

"What's up with you, Curly Brow? You look like you just ate the hottest chili in the world." He talked.

"YOU'RE SO STRANGE WHEN YOU SLEEP!" She responded quickly.

Naruto rubbed his head and looked down to his left, "What are you talking about? I'm normal."

So badly Nia wanted to inform the younger teen what he did but she decided against it and slowly attempted to calm herself down. She didn't want to be put in an awkward situation.

"N-Nevermind." She replied.

Suddenly, another scream was heard. It came from Jiraiya this time. He looked at the clock and realized it was afternoon. He told the other two and Naruto began to remove his robe right in front of Nia.

"Change somewhere else, Whisker Cheeks!"

Naruto looked back and sighed, "Fiiine."

He headed back to the closet and changed there. After him, Nia went in then Jiraiya. Soon the three made their way outside in the forest of the village.

The weather was a little hot and the wind was blowing a bit but it was not awful nor unbearable.

The sannin stood across from Nia and Naruto who stood side to side.

"All right." Jiraiya placed his hands on his hips, "The first lesson I'll teach is how the two of you can benefit from the other."

"Hold on!" Naruto got grumpy; he pointed a finger, "You said you'd teach me that new jutsu!"

"Would you clam it up already?! I will get to that but first this is what we're going to do. Don't get so impatient, Naruto. I told Nia I would teach her how to use ninjutsu more effectively. Don't be so selfish; You might learn a thing or two also."

Naruto slumped his head and shoulders.

 _'Yeaaah right.'_

And so, the official training finally went into motion. However, back in the Hidden Stone, a certain bad-tempered Raikage was heading out the village gates and back towards the Hidden Cloud.

He quickly remembered the agreement he made with the Umino girl and grunted.

 _'Nia had better learn how to use ninjutsu better or its back to the academy for her. I won't stand for such wasted potential.'_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: The Item**

There was no sound other than the rustling of bushes. Nia hid in one and was nearly close to having a heart attack.

 _'Where is he?_ ' She thought as her eyes looked right to left.

Lately, for the past week, a certain genin made a habit out of trying to sharpen Nia's stealth skills since she was a bit dull in that area. Clones were sent out to find the girl each morning if she had awoken before him and adventured off to get an item Naruto tucked away somewhere in the forest.

Today, she woke up just ten minutes before he did and managed to travel a few miles to where she assumed the hidden item would be.

Inside the village, Naruto tightened his headband right after stepping out the inn with Jiraiya still sleeping inside. The young man smiled ahead of him.

 _'Time to test where her ninjutsu and stealth skills are.'_ He thought.

Immediately, he made a sign and about one hundred clones spawned into existence.

"It's that time of day, guys!" The original pumped his fist.

"YEAHHH!" The copies hollered in response. They all looked psyched to start the morning off the way they did.

"Five of you stay and travel with me. The rest of you scatter the entire forest and look for Nia. If you see her, don't bother fighting like the other times you did. Just disappear and I'll get the information. IS THAT CLEEEEAAAR?!"

"YEAH!"

Like the original wanted, five clones of himself stood by his side while the others were preparing for a hunt.

"Wait! One more thing!"

The clones all faced their leader. Naruto gave them a warning not to let Nia know that they've found her. He told them not to make a noise or she'll escape his grasp. Once the information was given, ninety-five of the clones left.

"All right, you guys. Let's head to the item and guard it."

The few clones with the original nodded and obeyed the orders given to them.

Just as they left, Jiraiya entered out the inn still in his robe and yawned.

 _'What does Naruto think he's doing yelling at 6:00 in the morning?'_

Seconds later, several people walked out of their inns with an angry expression.

"Hey!" A young male with brown hair pointed at the sannin.

"You talking to me?" Jiraiya pointed at himself.

"Yeah you!" A rather muscular tall woman answered, "Don't you know what time it is?! Some of us have missions in less than three hours!"

"No no! That wasn't me!" The geezer sage waved his arms around, "You see, my student Na-"

"GET RID OF HIM!" The crowd roared. They all gritted their teeth and creepily approached the older man while cracking their knuckles or reaching for a hidden weapon.

 _'Young people have no respect these days...'_ Jiraiya frowned then jumped onto the roof of the building he was staying at for the past week.

"Sorry folks, but the great toad sage is outta this town! See ya later!"

With that, he transported out of sight, but not before performing a hair whip and a wacky pose.

 _ **Ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump**_

Nia's heart wouldn't calm. She saw a couple of Naruto's clones having a conversation with one another. She decided to listen in.

"The original never lets us do things for ourselves." The first one spoke.

The other crossed their arms, "Well duh! He's the main us. What was you expecting?"

"A bowl of Ichiraku."

"...That does sound good."

' _They're talking about noodles...'_ Nia sweatdropped, ' _Is that all he thinks about?'_

"Wonder how Sakura's doing..." A clone continued.

Nia remembered the original saying that name in his sleep a week prior. She leaned closer to get a better sense of hearing.

"She should be fine, y'know." The other replied.

The clone with their arms crossed sighed, "If she is, I'll ask her on a date. Maybe that'll cheer her up."

"She always says no though."

"...You're right..." The clone slumped in disappointment.

 _'I don't get it... Is this Sakura girl his girlfriend or what? She seems more like his crush just from listening to these clones conversation.'_ Nia pondered.

Seconds later, she saw trees not too far from her with branches full of thick leaves. Climbing up and traveling from there would keep her unspotted for sure just as long as she didn't make a sound.

However, she couldn't just jump on a branch while the clones were there. They would definitely hear her feet landing on the branch and the leaves rubbing on her clothing. She had no choice but to climb the tree using chakra. That wouldn't make a noise as long as she's cautious of her foot placement.

She swallowed a lump in her throat.

 _'Okay... Jiraiya-sensei told me to send chakra to the soles of my feet. I need to focus.'_

Though she practiced a few times during the week and got a lot better, she was still a bit lousy at using chakra in her feet to get her to walk on things ordinary people couldn't. She needed to concentrate.

Patiently she waited for her chakra to descend. Half a minute later, it did just that and she was now prepared to walk on the tree. Slowly she crawled to the tree without the clones noticing, stood back up and placed her feet on the bark. She took a deep breath and began walking up.

 _'It always feels weird to do this at an angle. I don't really like not having my feet on the ground sometimes.'_

Once successfully at her designation, she examined the landscape, looking for a clue as to where Naruto may have left his super special item. She wondered what that special item even was. The male genin did instruct her that she would be able to tell what that item was the second she spots it; if she does at all that is.

The clones below her continued having a very gregarious conversation and was clearly ignoring their task by now. Nia took advantage of it and took out a couple shuriken from her pouch. She prepared to attack them but then remembered something crucial.

Whenever she was to attack Naruto's clones and they would disappear, the real one would show up and find her in less than a few minutes. This time had to be different. She needed a strategy to eliminate his clones without being pinpointed moments later.

The girl with glasses took a moment to strategize. A few ideas came to mind but none would seem to work in the long run. They would get her captured for sure. One however, seemed to be a strategy worth taking a risk on. Concentrating, Nia made a clone of herself and whispered the plan into their ear. The clone nodded and waited for the signal.

"Whatever you do, don't get hit by a rasengan or you're finished, got it?"

The clone nodded.

Nia dug through her pouch again and wrapped a paper bomb into a ball like she did when she was escaping her village.

"Also, try to stall me some time and look out for the real Naruto, all right?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Throwing the bomb as far as she could, the paper eventually erupted and catched the attention of several Naruto clones. Since they were all the same, all who saw the explosion drifted off in that direction; including the ones near Nia.

"Go now." She ordered her clone.

It nodded and jumped down the branch it stood on then ran through the forest to where the bomb was seen. The original then hopped from tree to tree, passing the areas that she had already checked the past week.

Once her clone got to where a few dozen of Naruto's clones were also, she immediately engaged them in battle. She forced them into a close-range battle, then gained the upper hand and was steadily destroying the clones one by one.

Alerted by his disappearing copies, the real Naruto smirked.

"You five stay here and guard the item."  
He ordered the few clones with him and left soon after.

 _'I got you now!'_ He thought as he kicked off the ground then hopped from branch to branch in the direction of where the action was taking place.

In the opposite direction, Nia searched from nearly every direction in that somewhat medium-sized forest. However, nothing that looked like an item Naruto would carry came into view.

 _'Damn... Where the hell is it_?' She pouted.

Suddenly, a group of crows flew out of nearby trees. The kunoichi noticed and looked to see what was going on. As if by pure luck, a blur zoomed right past her from the other side of the area. Her heart raced when she realized the person who had past her was the real Naruto. She could tell cause he wore a very knowing smile. The smile he gave her each time he located where she was.

She placed her hand over her heart.

 _'Whew, that was scary; I can't believe he didn't see me! My clone must be doing a great job out there.'_

"HOLD ON!" She gasped upon the realization of something. She quickly shutted herself up by putting a hand over her mouth.

 _'That direction he came from... Could it mean that the item Naruto has is that way?!'_

Deciding to take yet another gamble, Nia leaped faster and faster north of her. Naruto had gone south; the complete opposite direction.

At the battleground, Nia's clone was down to one Naruto clone, but took over five minutes to get the number that low. The grass had been ripped away and all that remained was the brown soil underneath.

"I don't know how I keep getting into a fist fight with you..." The Naruto clone huffed, "But... If you wanna play that way, I'm glad to go along with it."

The Nia copy got into a stance once more, though she was weakened by an enormous extent. One more clone shouldn't be hard to get rid of right?

"Y-You might... Wanna look behind you." The male clone pointed behind the female one before dropping to a knee and vanishing.

She did as she was told and saw a blue spiraling chakra out of another Naruto's hand. There was no time to react as he was too close.

"Rasengan!"

A direct hit was made once Nia's only clone turned around and came into contact with the original male genin. She poofed and Naruto stared ahead dumbfounded.

"What?! A clone?"

Information then came from another clone of his near to the item. A few had spotted the young girl leaping through the trees in the direction of the hiding spot.

Naruto blinked a few times before he shook his head and rapidly leaped back into the trees from where he came.

"Gahhh! How could I be so stupid!" He scolded himself as he kicked off another branch, "She's gonna beat me!"

Nia took note on what was in front of her: Four clones were goofing off playing cards while the fifth one was actually doing what he was supposed to and guarded the place. Seeing this raised the girl's confidence.

 _'He's too far to catch up with me now. I'll destroy the clones right here.'_ She told herself with a grin on her face.

' _Maybe I could try using a water-style technique that could destroy these things...'_

Nia tried to remember the hand seals for the jutsu she was going to use. However, she couldn't remember which signs she needed.

' _What was it again...? Tiger, sheep...? No, that's not it... Hmm.'_

The hand seals kept her from performing a simple ninjutsu technique.

 _'Snake, horse, ram...? No. Wait! Maybe horse, rabbit, and rat... No. That's not right either...'_

A few minutes passed and Naruto was getting closer and closer to Nia's location; he wasn't more than four miles back. He would be where she's at any minute now.

 _'Rabbit, monkey, horse, sheep._ ' The girl thought.

Liquid suddenly began to fill up the kunoichi's stomach the moment she performed those four signs. It began to rise but she felt incredibly weird while that happened and dropped the signs. The liquid disappeared and Nia felt back to normal.

 _'Oh my god, that's it! It had to be! There's no dang way it couldn't have been the right seals!'_

Excited about finding the proper hand seals, the girl decided to once again give it a go; She repeated the seals in her head a few times then performed it outwardly. Again, liquid filled her belly and begun to rise up.

While in the sheep seal position, she hollered, "Water Style: Water Whip Justu!"

Water risen out of her mouth and formed the shape of a rope. It was crystal blue and broke off once it gotten to a certain length. Nia held it in front of her and gazed at it with sparkling eyes.

 _'Ahh my goodness! My first proper ninjutsu! Ohhh, I'm so glad Jiraiya gave me that paper to see what nature I had and teaching me what simple technique I can start off with! This is soo exciting, I swear! I wasn't able to get this right till now! Ohh I bet Naruto will be surprised once he sees this; maybe he'll be impressed!'_

Taking a deep breath, Nia gripped her whip then jumped down into plain sight where the clone doing its job spotted and warned the others. Before the clones playing cards could react, the kunoichi gracefully used her whip to constrict the clones against one another until they could no longer stay in existence. The four dispersed.

"Woah!" She fancied her weapon, " This thing actually works!"

Next, Nia jumped into the air and forcefully slammed her weapon down towards the last clone. It dodged the attack and sprinted towards the girl. It leaped into the air and punched her across the cheek. Nia fell to the ground with her weapon still in her grasp. She quickly recovered and attempted to swing the jutsu around. However, her movements and aim were sloppy and easy to avoid. The clone simply took out a kunai and threw it at her weapon. It made contact and Nia's jutsu fell into a puddle of water beneath her feet.

"Nooo! Already?!" She groaned once she saw what the clone had done, "That was my first jutsu and you destroyed it! I didn't even have this out for more than a minute!"

The clone chuckled, "You couldn't have been thinking it would last forever, did you?"

"Of course I did!"

The blonde clone sweat-dropped.

Time was running thin. Nia knew the original would be here any second. At once, she charged forward, hoping to get into a fist-fight but the clone distanced itself by hopping backwards in the air. Nia quickly drew out shurikens and aimed them at her opponent. It dodged her attacks but doing so made it vulnerable. She then ran to below the clone's feet, grabbed it and swung it hard into the ground; destroying it.

She grinned and felt a boost to her self-esteem.

"I did it!" She celebrated and jumped up and down with her arms up.

Behind her, the original had finally caught up to her and smirked.

"It's not over unless you get to the item while I'm still around, Curly Brow." He said, making the girl freeze in place.

' _He's here...'_ The girl looked behind her in disbelief, ' _No, I took too damn long.'_

"Anyway..." Naruto approached, "This is the end for you."

Immediately, he dashed towards Nia in a attempt to capture her. She did the same but slid between the open space of his legs and escaped his clutches. Quickly, Naruto turned around and saw Nia scanning the area.

"Where'd you put it, Whisker Cheeks?!" She asked as she frantically searched for the item.

"Not tellin' ya!" He replied, once more chasing after the girl.

Again, she was forced to slow down the male by throwing whatever weapon was left in her pouch. This seemed to work for a brief moment until Naruto eventually flipped in the air and landed in front of the girl. She panicked and aimed a kick at him but he blocked it using his forearm, surprising her.

Again, she tried to attack, but this time aimed a jab to his face. Naruto caught her fist.

"You're not the only one whose been improving, y'know. I've been working hard too." He informed his opponent.

"Clearly." She replied as she looked around in a desperate fashion.

Just to the right of Naruto, Nia saw something hanging off the edge of a tree branch: it was a light blue pendant. The same one Nia had saw the blonde wear in previous days.

 _'That HAS to be it!_ ' She convinced herself.

Still in the male's grasp, the kunoichi had to think of something quick. She remembered the name of the girl Naruto said in his sleep and pointed behind him dramatically.

"Hey! That Sakura girl is smiling at you from behind!" She lied.

Immediately, Naruto dropped Nia's fist and looked behind him, clearly excited by what he heard.

"Sakura's here?! And she's smiling at me?!" He blushed.

Immediately, Nia rushed to where she believed the item was and kicked off the ground in a graceful motion then yanked the necklace off the branch just as Naruto realized he had been duped.

"I got it!" The kunoichi grinned ear to ear as she fell to the ground on her stomach.

Naruto, who was disappointed that he fell for the easiest trick in the book, smiled anyway and approached his fellow genin.

"This was it, right?" Nia stood up and held the necklace in Naruto's face.

"Yeah. Good job... Even though you tricked me." He slumped his shoulders and head.

He then took a moment to collect himself then smiled and said,

"It was a gift from Grandma Tsunade."

"Grandma Tsunade?" Nia repeated. The name had ringed a bell, but she wasn't sure where she heard the person.

"That's right; she's one of the legendary sannin and is currently the hokage of my village."

"Oh! Now I know who you're talking about."

'That's the last Iruka wrote in that letter when he talked about the Leaf having a new hokage."

"She really gave you that? Sorry, but that's hard to believe sorta."

Naruto smiled, "You bet she did! I worked hard to get this thing, y'know."

"Oh really?" Nia raised an eyebrow, "What did you do?"

"I'll have to tell you later. Right now I wanna know how you know Sakura."

The dark-haired girl awkwardly stretched her arms, "Oh... Um... To be honest, I heard you mumbling her name in your sleep and also a couple of your clones were talking about how you wanna go on a date with her or something like that. I don't actually know who she is."

Naruto's face reddened from slight embarrassment. Nia noticed this.

"You like that girl?" She asked with no expression.

"Yeah... Basically." The ninja answered.

His answer made Nia very slightly uncomfortable, "Oh, I see... Why don't you give me a description of who she is and what she looks like? Maybe I've seen her before somewhere."

"Sure." Naruto nodded, gently took his item back and placed it back around his neck.

He then began to stroll through the forest with Nia by his side, "I'll tell you all about her while we go back to Pervy Sage."

"All right." Nia smiled, "And I forgot to tell you that I finally performed the proper water style jutsu Jiraiya-sensei was trying to teach me."

"I know. My clones saw it and they gave me the details of it once they disappeared. That's one scary whip."

"Wait! So the reason you kept finding me is because you're clones tell you my location?"

Naruto sheepishly grinned, "Uh-huh, that's right."

 _'I knew it_!' Nia spoke in her head, _'I freakin' knew it!'_

"How did you even do that though?! Im sure you probably destroyed my clone but I didn't get any Intel from it. Why's that?"

"Well, it's complicated to explain right now but I'll show you sometime."

"Kay!" Nia felt a surge of happiness inside her, "Well then, you wanted to talk about that one girl you like, right?"

"Oh yeah. So Sakura's..."


End file.
